It Is By Our Choices We Are Judged
by Ryzmah
Summary: Harry's twin bother is declared the boy who lived. James and Lily decide to send Harry to Italy. How will this effect Harry's life? Warnings: Slash and Language. Possible MPEG later.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Lily and James Potter weren't bad people. It could even be argued that at first, they weren't bad parents. In fact, most people would say that they were good parents. They only had one major flaw, and it was one that many parents fall victim to. They favoured one child over another. Oh they loved both of their children, and they never neglected their second born, but the fact remained that they _liked _their first born more. It is easy to understand how it happened. From birth Edmund was one of those likable types. He was a beautiful plump little guy, with dark auburn hair and bright blue eyes. Harry with his black hair and green eyes was by no means ugly, but he was a normal newborn, and when compared to his elder brother, well…. Their different personalities didn't help Harry's cause either. Edmund was cheery and outgoing, always willing to give a cheeky grin to any stranger that walked by. His younger brother of thirty two minutes, was shy and reserved. Harry was also a quiet and relatively easy child, which normally would have been to his favour, but Edmund was such a lively, energetic, fearless child that most of the time both Lily and James were so drained that they didn't think to be appreciative of the difference. Besides, Edmund reminded James so much of himself that he enjoyed the more rambunctious twin. He had a harder time bonding with Harry, who was more interested in looking at his picture books than chasing after a ball. And this was all before the incident.

No one knows for sure what happened that evening. After all the only witnesses were the Potter twins, and they weren't even two! All James and Lily were able to tell Dumbledore when he showed up was that when they came home, the babysitter was dead and the nursery was in shambles. Both boys were crying and Edmund had a gash on his forehead that was refusing to heal all the way. Albus examined the wound and realized that it was caused by a curse. He attempted to perform Legillmency on them, but for some reason couldn't. The only image he could get was from Edmund, a picture of Voldemort's wand pointed at him. After his scan of both boys, the room, and the white wand on the floor, Dumbledore made the announcement that Voldemort had come to kill Edmund, but that he had somehow rebounded the killing curse and destroyed Voldemort instead.

The wizarding world rejoiced and celebrated for weeks, and Edmund was proclaimed the boy who lived, their saviour. After this life became harder for little Harry. James and Lily didn't _purposely _ignore him, but there were so many interviews and parties and events for Edmund. They thought that they were being kind by leaving Harry behind. After all they knew he hated large groups and was shy around strangers. Certain that he would be happier they left him at home with a sitter or with the Weasleys.

They had another reason for leaving Harry with the Weasleys so often. As the years past they started getting concerned about little Harry's reluctance to interact with others. They hoped that with more interaction he would come out of his shell. This would lead to a life changing conversation. Fearing that their plan wasn't working, Lily asked Molly for advice. After all the woman was successfully raising seven children, surely she would know what to do.

Molly looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know Lily, it is true that when your whole family is here Harry does tend to withdraw. However when it is just him over he is more open and playful." At Lily's surprised look she continued. "Oh to be sure he will never be the extravert that Edmund is, nor will he be great friends with my Ron, but he seems to have a certain bond with George and Fred."

"Really? I wonder if it is a twin thing."

Molly snorted. "Maybe, but my guess would be that my twins enjoy putting the brilliance of your son to use in order to perfect their pranks."

"Harry? Pranks? My Harry?" Lily asked in shock.

Molly laughed. "Oh I have never caught him in anything, but I have noticed that their pranks seem more complicated and flawless after he visits. They tend to spend all their time up in the twins' room talking when he is here."

"I am shocked. He never pulls pranks at home. He is so serious!"

"That he is. I don't think I have ever met a more serious eight year old. It could be that Harry feels overshadowed by Edmund and so he withdraws. Perhaps all he needs is some time away from Edmund in order to develop his confidence."

Lily spent the next few days watching Harry before discussing with James what Molly had said. After a lengthy conversation they decided that it might be in the boys' best interest to attend different schools. Lily than wrote to Dumbledore asking for an meeting. A week later Lily was walking up the familiar drive to Hogwarts. Sitting in the Headmaster's office she explained the situation. Albus agreed with their decision. Although he was disappointed that Harry wouldn't be attending Hogwarts, he agreed that it was for the best. Edmund would be receiving special training for when Voldemort returned, and he didn't want Harry to become jealous or resentful of his brother. The rest of the morning was spent going over all the other magical schools available. Beauxbatons was the closest and had a good program, unfortunately the Montague and Pontlite families were very involved with that school, and there was bad blood between them and the Potter family. There were some excellent schools in both the States and in Australia. They also had the added advantage that Harry wouldn't have to learn a new language, but Lily didn't want to send Harry so far away. Lily finally chose La Academia di Capacita Magica, or the Academy of Magical Power in Bologna Italy. The only thing that caused her to hesitate was the fact that the school started with two years of prep before starting the main classes. Nine seemed a little young for boarding school, but as Albus and Minerva reminded her, it would give Harry a chance to learn the language and make friends.

Between school visits, interviews, and testing the year went quickly. Before she knew it, Lily was hugging Harry good-bye. As the year went by James and Lily started to doubt that they had made the right decision. Harry's letters home, while full of information about his classes, never hinted at the new friendships they had hoped he would make. Finally towards the end of his first year small mentions of a Toni showed up. When he returned home for his short summer break, he brought home not only stellar grades, but news of three friends, Toni, Francesca, and Luca. James and Lily breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe they had made the right choice after all.


	2. A New Family

AN: First I want to thank everyone for the reviews. It is great hearing from you. Next I want to say it is use your imagination time. A large part of my story takes place in Italy. Obviously they would speak Italian, but I don't speak Italian and if I wrote the conversations out in Italian, no one would understand what I was writing. I have added hints of Italian here and there for flavour, but not a whole lot. Hope you enjoy this chapter. ~Ryz

Chapter 1

Harry sighed with relief as he left his last class for the day. He loved his advanced craftsmanship class, but it was incredibly draining. As he walked back to his dorm, he thought about the past seven and a half years. It had been a shock when he had found out that he wasn't going to go to Hogwarts. He had heard countless stories about the old school. About his father's adventures with his friends, his mother's love of the library, and how wonderful the professors were. He had been looking forward to attending. He and the twins had had plans.

His first year had been beyond tough. Not only did he not know anyone, but almost no one spoke English. The little bit of Italian he had managed to learn before coming had helped some, but for the first few months he had felt very lost and alone. If he hadn't been such an easy going child, he would have begged his parents not to send him back at Christmas break, but they had said that it was for the best, so he had kept quiet. Slowly he started feeling fluent enough to interact with his classmates. Antonio Zabini was the first to reach out to him. The two boys quickly became friends. Not only did they have similar personalities, but thanks to a British cousin, Toni spoke some English. Francesca and Luca joined them later, and by the end of the year the four were inseparable.

It was when he returned home following his third year that he noticed that things felt a little strange. He hadn't noticed it before, but since he spent the majority of his time in Italy he had picked up the culture. Over the years he had become less British and more Italian. A normal occurrence, but still disconcerting for the not quite twelve year old who now felt like he didn't "fit in" anymore. This discovery led to him spend more and more time with his friends and their families. As the years past his bonds to the UK became less and less. In fact he hadn't been back for almost two years. Oh he still loved the Potters, but his parents seemed more like a distant Aunt and Uncle than parents. No it was Toni's parents who had stepped into that role. If he had a problem it was to Giuseppe or Maria that he turned to. They who understood and encouraged his dreams. Besides he understood that James and Lily were busy with his brother. Why force the issue when you have nothing in common?

"Hey Luca," Harry greeted his roommate.

The dark haired boy looked up from his packing. "Hey Lio, you all set to go?"

Harry wearily sat down on his bed. "Si, I packed last night with Toni. Merlin, I need these two weeks!"

Luca chuckled. "Yes you look it." His expression changed to concern. "We don't leave for a few hours, why don't you take a short nap?"

Harry bit back a groan before slipping off his shoes and lying down. It was pointless to argue and the last thing he needed was Luca telling Giuseppe that he was "neglecting" himself. He'd be put to bed for a week! He supposed he should be grateful that Toni had left for Florence last night. If he became involved there would be a Healer waiting for him when he got home. Honestly, ever since his "condition" had been discovered their over protectiveness had known no limit. Francesca sympathized with him. Being female she had experienced over protectiveness since she was born. She tried to reign Toni in, but Zabini stubbornness was legendary. Most mules were more lenient than that family.

Harry sighed as he closed his eyes. He understood that being a bearer was special and rare. Yes it caused him to be small and slender, but by the saints! Just because he looked delicate didn't mean he was delicate! He was just as healthy, strong and powerful as any other wizard, but convincing his family of that seemed impossible.

A few hours later he was awakened by Luca. "Well, you look a little better. You still appear tired though."

Harry smiled at his friend. "Luca, I had five exams and four midterm projects due this week. Of course I am tired. You needn't worry so much, I am fine."

"I just want to make sure you take care of yourself."

"Si Mamma. I promise."

Luca laughed and swatted the back of Harry's head. "Fine, fine, I will back off. Just don't come crying to me if Signore Zabini gives you another lecture." He laughed harder at Harry's shudder. "Well come on Lio. We don't want to be late for dinner."

************************

The moment that Harry stepped out of the floo he was swept into an embrace.

"Lio, welcome home!"

Harry relaxed into the warm affection of Maria. "It is good to be home Mamma." He was soon claimed by another pair of arms.

"Figlio (son) it is wonderful to see you again," Giuseppe said, kissing him on the top of the head. Stepping back he studied Harry intently. "You look drawn Lio. Perhaps we should have Healer Castillo come and look you over."

Harry bit back a groan. It was wonderful knowing that his family cared so much for him, but if Healer Castillo got involved he'd spend his entire holiday in bed! Ringing laughter told Harry that he didn't do as good of a job hiding his grimace as he had thought.

"Now Giuseppe, leave the poor boy alone. He has just gone through his midterms. I am sure he'll be fine after a good night's rest."

The head of the Zabini family turned his attention back to Harry. "Hmm, well I suppose we can wait a few days. I won't call Castillo, but I expect you to take full advantage of this break and get plenty of rest."

"I promise Papa," Harry answered in relief. He sent a smile of gratitude towards the elder woman and received a wink back. Giuseppe might be the head of the family, but not even he would go against Nonna (Grandma) Melita. His mother took Zabini stubbornness to a whole new level! Harry smiled again as he thought back to his first meeting with this family. He had been so overwhelmed. But he had quickly learned that behind the imposing figure of Giuseppe lay a warm and generous heart. The man had taken one look at the lonely ten year old and had claimed him.

Toni, Luca, and he left the room to prepare for dinner. "Lucky escape there brother," Toni commented with a smirk. Even though he was almost as bad, he found his parents coddling of Lio hilarious.

"Si, I was having visions of being confined to bed before Nonna stepped in. You know I would have hated missing your betrothal ball."

Toni laughed at that. "Oh you know perfectly well you would have been allowed to attend. It is a well known fact that you have Papa wrapped around you finger. You know, I should feel jealous that Mamma and Papa love you more than me. Even my fiancé's family likes you more than me!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh please! The Medicis like you just fine. Any hostility they hold towards you is due towards you taking Francesca away from them." He replied ignoring the first part of Toni's comment. When he was new to the family he had been afraid that his friend would resent the amount of attention he received from Giuseppe, but he had soon learned that the big bear of a man had more than enough love to go around.

"Perhaps, but relations between the Medicis and the Zabinis have always been good."

Luca looked at his friend in disbelief. "When it comes to the ONLY daughter of Vincenzio Medici, it doesn't matter how good your family relations are. San Paulo himself would have been sneered at. It is nothing short of a miracle that they didn't kill you for daring to suggest that you are worthy of her!"

Toni gave a wry chuckle as he remembered the four hour interrogation he had suffered when asking permission to court her. "Oh I have been informed many times that I am not, nor ever will be worthy of her. Apparently the only reason they put up with my inferiority is because Francesca insists that I am necessary for her happiness."

"She always has been able to get what she wants from her father and six brothers."

Toni shared a smile with his brother and friend. "Si, and as long as I never upset her I can live a long and happy life."


	3. One Enchanted Evening

AN: Thank you for the reviews. I have gotten the question of how old Harry is from several reviewers. At this point Harry is sixteen and a half. He is in the middle of his eighth year, or what would be his sixth year if he had attended Hogwarts. Also, I know I have rushed through a large part of Harry's life. There will be flashbacks and information given to fill in the backstory some, and the Potters will come into the story, but for the most part, this is a Draco and Harry story. Finally, for the remainder of the story Harry will mainly go by Lio. It is his nickname and only those who don't know him well will call him Harry, and yes that will include the Potters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything in his world. Only the original characters are mine. I am not making any money on this fanfiction.

Chapter 2

"Sweet Merlin! Who is that?" Draco whispered in an awed voice. When Blaise had invited him to come to Italy for his cousin's betrothal party, he had leapt at the chance to get out of the UK for a while. He had been sipping wine and surveying the room somewhat bored, when his eyes had landed on perfection.

"Who?" Blaise asked trying to figure out who his friend was looking at.

"The beautiful creature talking to your cousin's fiancé," Draco answered, not tearing his eyes from the vision across the room.

Blaise glanced at Francesca. Turning back to his friend, he smirked. "You're going to catch flies Draco." After Draco's jaw snapped shut, he continued. "I believe that is Lio. He attends the academy with Toni and has been all but formally adopted by my uncle's family. He is quite close to Francesca and her family as well."

"Lio? As in the lion?"

"Now Draco, I know I did a better job at teaching you Italian than that. Leo would be lion. Lio is short for something. I don't remember what. He is actually British. I think his real name Harry."

"You have to introduce me to him!"

Blaise laughed at his friend's demand. "Draco, I haven't actually met him before. My cousin has written about him and I have seen pictures, but the last time I was in Italy, he was away. It would hardly be appropriate for me to just walk up to him." He sighed when he saw that Draco didn't really care about the appropriateness of it right now. He wanted an introduction. "I will talk to Toni and get him to introduce both of us."

Lio greeted Francesca with a kiss on the cheek. "You look quite amazing tonight."

Francesca smiled. "As do you, dear friend. I am glad that you are well rested and that the healer wasn't sent for," she teased lightly.

Lio gasped in mock horror. "Dear Chessie, you were suppose to have spent the past week in seclusion, contemplating the seriousness of your decision. Don't tell me that you have broken tradition and communicated with your suitor?!" he teased back.

Francesca snorted indelicately. "I have wanted to marry Toni since I was fourteen. Being locked in a room for a week wasn't going to change that. It was my family that insisted on a formal courtship and betrothal. Probably in hope that Toni would run for the hills."

"Now Chessie, your father would never try to scare off a suitor." At her sceptical look, he continued. "He would simply make them disappear."

Francesca broke into laughter. "Si, he would." After her laughter died down, she sighed. "Honestly, this is tedious! I don't know who came up with all the rules and traditions of the formal courtship, but they should be forced to spend an extra millennium in purgatory for starting such torture."

Lio smiled sympathetically. This wasn't the first time he had heard this complaint. Toni and Chessie had been really good friends before they had fallen in love. However once the courtship had started, they hadn't been allowed to spend two minutes alone together, not even at school. "Well the final gift will be given within the hour. With the official end of the courtship and start of your betrothal, things should loosen up a bit."

Francesca groaned lightly. "You would think so, but no. My father made Toni promise not to do more than kiss my hand before our wedding night. I don't think he is brave enough to go against it."

"I don't think it is a lack of courage, but a strong sense of survival that stays my brother's hand. As frustrating as this may be, your wedding night will be much better if your groom is alive."

"Si, si, tease me all you want Lio. Just remember one day a suitor will come for you, and if you think Giuseppe will be any easier on them, you are delusional."

Lio nodded in agreement. He had seen how his papa had acted towards one of his older sister's suitors. He would be near impossible to anyone who came. "True, but that is many years away. You know my apprenticeship will be long and demanding. Besides, it isn't like anyone is interested in me anyway."

Francesca had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. If it had been anyone else it would have been false modesty, but her friend was truly unaware of how beautiful he was, his innocence making him even more so. There were plenty of boys at school who watched Lio. Only their fear of Giuseppe kept them from approaching him. She found it almost unbelievable that he never noticed that eyes turned to look at him whenever he entered a room. It was true though, and that was the real cause for his family's protectiveness. Granted, Lio did take on too much and push himself too hard, but that was just an excuse. As beautiful as her friend was, it was his unworldliness, his purity of soul that enchanted everyone. He was naïve in every sense of the word. His eyes would need to be opened slowly, gently or he would be shattered. If that were to happen, well, God have mercy on the soul of the person responsible, for no power on Earth would be strong enough to stop Giuseppe's wrath. Breaking from her thoughts, she noticed that Toni was trying to get Lio's attention. "It seems that Toni needs you for something. You had better go to him, before he comes over and gives the old biddies a heart attack."

"Now Francesca, that is hardly a nice way to refer to your great aunts."

She chuckled. "And now that I am properly chastised you better go."

Lio kissed her on the cheek again and walked across the room. Toni was standing next to two wizards that he didn't recognized. "Did you need something brother?"

"Lio, I wanted to introduce you to my cousin Blaise."

"The British cousin. I have heard quite a bit about you. I am glad to meet you. I was in Rome the last time you were here."

Blaise smiled at the smaller boy. Although he didn't swing that way he could see why his friend was so enraptured. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. My cousin has written a lot about his little brother."

Lio rolled his eyes. "Si, Toni is quite fond of making a big deal out of the six months that separate us."

Toni shrugged carelessly. "It is not my fault Papa and Mamma failed to provide me with a younger brother. I needed to find my own to torment."

"Yes they would wring your neck if you upset Lenora or Marta."

"As if they wouldn't do the same if I ever truly upset you," Toni grumbled.

Lio smiled at his brother. "I know, isn't it wonderful?"

Blaise joined Lio in his laughter. This fae like creature certainly fit right in. After regaining control he motioned towards Draco. "Lio, let me introduce a good friend and classmate of mine Draco Malfoy."

Lio nodded to the blonde, trying to remember where he had heard the name before. "It is always nice to meet a friend of one of my cousins. Are you enjoying your stay in Italy?" he asked, switching to English.

Draco smiled gently, drinking in the beauty in front of him. While Lio and Blaise had been talking, he had been studying him. Across the room he had been beautiful, up close the word didn't begin to describe him. The black hair that looked shiny and soft fell to just below his shoulders. His green eyes sparkled merrily and when he laughed a light blush covered his cheeks. And his mouth, Merlin that mouth! It was rosy and full and he just wanted to reach down and see if it tasted as good as it looked. He was pulled from his thoughts by the introduction and question. It was obvious from the accent that even though English may have been his first language, it was no longer his most comfortable. "Yes I am. I have visited southern Italy before, but this is my first time to Florence," he responded in Italian.

Lio's brow lifted at Draco's use of Italian. "Your Italian is flawless. I am surprised. I thought that if they choose to learn a second language, most Brits choose French."

"They do," Draco acknowledged. "And I am fluent in it, but I have always had an affinity with languages. Thanks to Blaise's influence I learned Italian. Since none of our Professors speak it, it allowed us to plot and plan without fear of discovery."

Lio smiled in amusement. "I have two friends who are always plotting and planning. They invented some code words in order to not get caught. I think they would be rather impressed by your learning a new language in order to do so."

Toni bit back a smirk when he saw the light blush cross the blonde's cheeks. Apparently another had fallen victim to his brother's beauty. As usual his brother was completely clueless. Although a potential suitor would normally make him go into protective mode, this one seemed rather harmless. He was being respectful and not pushy. Besides, he would be headed back to Scotland at the end of the week. As long as this didn't change he wouldn't intervene.

After a few more moments of conversation, Toni and Lio moved away. It was time to start the ceremonies. The final gift was given, accepted and the "newly" engaged couple led the way to dancing.

The Malfoy heir was frustrated. He had hoped that he and Blaise would spend the week with Toni and Lio. It didn't turn out that way, at least not the Lio part. He had enjoyed the time he and Blaise had spent with Toni. Not only was the Italian friendly, but he had shared quite a bit about Lio. Draco often felt that he was silently laughing at him, but as he knew he had been rather obvious in his interest in Lio, he couldn't really blame him. However he was starting to wonder if Lio was avoiding him. Oh he would get glimpses of the raven haired beauty now and then, but as soon as he would move to get closer he would disappear. He finally asked Toni if he had done something to offend his brother, but was assured that that wasn't the case. So Draco was left wondering.

It wasn't until their final night in Italy that the elusive wizard actually stayed in the room. Since they were leaving the next morning, the entire family gathered for dinner. They were enjoying coffee after the meal when Giuseppe asked Lio to play something for them. Lio blushed deeply and dipped his head.

"Oh please Lio! It has been so long since I have heard you play." A brother whose name Draco couldn't remember pleaded.

"Alright," he responded softly. When a house elf returned with his violin he stood, took a deep breath, opened his magic, and touched bow to strings.

Toni, who was sitting next to Draco, chuckled when he saw the enraptured look on the blonde's face. "He is very good isn't he?"

"I have never heard his equal."

"You wouldn't have in the UK. Your performers may have magical blood, but when it comes to music they are muggles." He smiled soothingly when Draco gave him a shocked and somewhat irritated look. "I mean no offence. It is just that the old ways have been forgotten in your homeland. In Italy, every now and then a wizard or witch will perform for a group of muggles. Afterwards, the performance will be described as magical or spellbinding. And in a way they have been placed under a spell. When the old ways are used, the wizard of witch blends their magic with the music. When you combine that with a magically crafted instrument, the whole thing becomes transformed."

Draco nodded in understanding before turning his full attention to the music. As he listened he found himself agreeing with muggles for the first time, it was spellbinding. It was a spell that went straight to his soul and lifted it.


	4. Meddling Fathers

AN: Several people have asked how old Harry/Lio is. He is currently sixteen and a half and in his eighth year at the Academy, or what would have been his sixth year if he had gone to Hogwarts. In this chapter we catch up with some of the people in the UK.

Disclaimer: If you recognise it, it isn't mine.

Chapter 3

The students of Hogwarts noticed a drastic change in the Slytherin playboy. Since fourth year, Draco had never gone more than a week between relationships. These relationships were well known to be hot, heavy, and very short. However for the past two months he had remained single. Not only was he not initiating anything, but anyone who approached him was brushed aside. As time went on, the whispers and rumours grew. The current favourite being that he was suffering from a horrible curse that made it impossible for him to perform. A few weeks before the end of the year, Draco and Blaise were at Malfoy manor picking up some books, and Blaise decided to call him on it.

"You know, you are in danger of completely ruining your playboy reputation."

"Do you think I really care about that?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "I know that you found him attractive, but you are acting like a besotted fool. Need I remind you that he lives over a thousand miles away? You are likely never to see him again."

"That's not a problem. You'll just need to get an invitation for the two of us for this summer."

"Draco, I hadn't visited my family for four years. Now I suddenly want to visit them twice in four months? Don't you think that they'll get a tad suspicious?"

"Are you a Slytherin or a Hufflepuff? I am sure you'll be able to come up with something."

Blaise resisted the urge to hit his best friend. "Oh thank you very much!" he answered sarcastically. "Merlin Draco, this is ridiculous! Why can't you just move on?"

Draco scowled at the dark boy. "He is perfect Blaise. It's over. It is done. There will never be another for me. I shall have him, or I shall have no one."

Blaise was astounded. "Bloody Hell, you're serious! Merlin's beard Draco, could you have made it any more difficult for yourself? For all wizards in the world for you to fall for you go and fall for the twin brother of the bloody boy who won't die. Assuming for a moment that you find some way to win him, will you father even allow you to be with a Potter? The feud between your families is almost as bad as the one between the Malfoys and the Weasleys."

Draco's shoulders dropped. As hard as it was to imagine, he had actually forgotten about his father. "It is hopeless isn't it?" he asked, his voice breaking slightly.

Blaise's eyes widened. He had never seen his friend like this. "Don't give up yet Draco. I'll figure out a way to get us to Italy. As to your father… as you said when you first found out who he was, he is nothing like his brother. Toni told me that he has almost nothing to do with the Potters anymore. Maybe we can simply intoduce him to your father as my cousin. Once he gets to know him and likes him, we can tell him his real name."

Draco looked at Blaise in a mixture of disbelief and amusement. "You want to out Slytherin my father? Good luck with that!"

"Well I don't know. But we'll think of something. You are a Malfoy, and you are always telling me that a Malfoy always gets what they want."

Draco laughed slightly. "Yeah. Thanks Blaise. I know that I have been acting like a sap, but before everything was a game. Now it isn't and I am not exactly sure how to proceed." He shook his head a little to clear it. "Now let's get those books and get back to Hogwarts. I still need to complete my Potions essay."

Unbeknownst to the two boys their conversation had been overheard. As the elder Malfoy moved down the hallway he was deep in thought. He didn't feel an ounce of remorse for listening in. After all if they had wanted their conversation to remain private they should have put up a ward, or at the very least, shut the door. No, if anything he was glad he had heard. He understood what was happening to his son. He himself had gone through the same. The blonde aristocrat smiled softly as he remembered back. Like his son, he had been quite the player whilst at Hogwarts. That all changed when he got his first real look at Narcissa Black. He had seen her before of course. They had attended Hogwarts together for a few years, but for some reason, he had never really noticed her. Then he had gone to a Yule ball with his parents during his sixth year. He had been bored out of his mind, wondering how long it would be before he could leave. Then she had entered the room. He had been transfixed. His father had smacked the back of his head, and with a smirk reminded him that Malfoys don't gape. He had spent the rest of his break thinking about her and how he was going to woo her. He'd been so excited to return to school.

She refused to have anything to do with him. He tried everything. He sent her gifts, she sent them back. He asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him, she sneered at him. In desperation he had tried to kiss her, she gave him a black eye. For awhile the school had thought that she was just trying to play hard to get, but as more time passed the students derived much entertainment at seeing the charming Slytherin getting turned down. He continued to get absolutely nowhere with her until that summer. Both of their parents had attended the same dinner party and they had gone with them. It had taken some doing, but Lucius had finally managed to corner her on a balcony.

Flashback

"What do you want?" she asked, blue eyes flashing.

"Why won't you give me a chance?"

"Malfoy, I have no desire to become the newest notch on your broomstick."

"I don't want that. I want to have a relationship with you."

Blue eyes rolled at that announcement. "You only want me because I rejected you and no one says no to a Malfoy, right?"

"That is not true! Do you really think I would invest this much time, effort, and humiliation, just for a shag? No, I am interested in you." He answered, starting to get irritated.

"You are telling me that you would be interested in me even if you knew there would be no chance of bedding me?"

"Yes for the hundredth time!"

"Prove it!" she challenged.

"What? How the hell am I suppose to do that?" he asked, wondering what she was up to.

"I'll give you a chance if you vow not to seduce me."

Without any hesitation he made the vow. "You won't regret this," he told her, lightly kissing her hand.

She reclaimed her hand and flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Hmmm…we'll see. If nothing else it will get you off my back," she responded before slipping past him and going back into the main room.

After she left Lucius leaned against the railing with a goofy smile on his face. He finally had his chance.

End Flashback

Lucius came out of the memory when he entered his office. He sat at his desk to think about what he had learned. He would have the boy investigated of course. However as long as there wasn't anything seriously wrong with the boy, he would support his son. He knew that the world viewed him as a cold, unfeeling man, but he loved his son and wanted him happy. True his stomach turned at the thought of being closely connected to the Potter family, but he supposed it could be worse. At least Draco hadn't fallen for a Weasley!

Two weeks Lucius read the information with more than a little surprise. When he had asked his investigators to look into the situation, he had simply hoped that there wouldn't be any serious defect with the boy. The boy was a Potter after all. Instead he was astounded. The boy had excellent marks, the equivalence of Os in most of his classes. He was well on his way to becoming an artisan, something desperately needed in the UK. He had close connections with some of the most influential people in Italy. To top it all off, the young wizard was a bearer!

Lucius was well aware of the stupidity of British wizards. Although homosexuality was fairly common and mostly accepted, in many circles, potion assisted pregnancy was looked down on. In fact it was such a strongly held belief that the resulting child would be inferior, that it was not unheard of for a family to insist that their son first have a child with a witch before allowing him to bind with another wizard. On the other hand, a child from a bearer was considered superior. It was believed that the reason bearers were so rare was because they had to be extremely powerful to overcome nature. Such power must be passed down to his children, even his children's children. Idiots, all of them! But if such a belief added to his family's honour, who was he to fight it?

The boy was truly the match of the millennium. As Draco had said, he was perfect. Sure he had flaws. He seemed to lack confidence, but Draco could cure him of that. Indeed the only thing that made Lucius cringe a bit was his apparent closeness to the Weasley twins. In fact, even though he couldn't prove it, he suspected he had provided the funds for the twins' business. Oh well, it couldn't be helped, and if nothing else it proved the boy had a good head for business. With everything that Lucius had learned he was having a hard time believing that he wasn't already betrothed. James Potter could have demanded anything, including insisting that the children carry the Potter name, and have gotten it easily. Was the man a fool? Lucius snorted. Of course the man was a fool. He didn't need this added proof to know that. 'Was it possible that the man didn't know?' he wondered with a frown. 'Well,' he thought with a shrug. 'It certainly wasn't his fault if the man was clueless.' He read through the contract one more time before gathering it and the other document he would need and left the room.

James looked up at the house elf that had just popped into his office. "Yes Mipsy?"

"Sir, Lord Malfoy is here. He is insisting on speaking with you."

"He's insisting?! How dare he?"

"He says he has information that affects the future of the Potter line," Mipsy answered, twisting her ear.

"Egotistical bastard! As if I would be interested in anything he has to say." At the house elf's worried look he sighed in irritation. "Oh show him in. He'll refuse to leave otherwise."

Moments later Mipsy returned with the blonde. The regal man crossed the room and sat down without waiting for an invitation. "What the hell do you want Malfoy?" he asked skipping all pleasantries.

Lucius smirked. It was always easier to get what you want when your opponent was flustered. "Did you know that before the feud of 1532 our families were quite close? In fact in the early thirteen hundreds David Potter and Augustus Malfoy were best friends."

"Malfoy, I doubt you came here to give me a history lesson. Get to the point or get out!"

"The reason for the history lesson is because last week I came across a magical agreement the two of them had made." He answered calmly. He handed over the document and sat back to watch the man's reaction. He found it quite amusing to watch the man's face first turn white and then red.

James couldn't believe what he was reading. Apparently the two wizards had been so close that they wanted to combine their families. As this was before the pregnancy potion and they only had sons, they had made a magical agreement that at some time in the future the Potter family would provide a spouse for the Malfoy heir. If the Potter family refused for any reason then they must forfeit all lands, titles, wealth and family magics to the Malfoy family. "You can't believe this agreement is still valid. It is almost seven hundred years old." James declared after he finished reading it.

"You know perfectly well that age doesn't effect magical contracts. The only way for them to disappear is for them to be fulfilled."

"Do you really think that you'll be able to regain your reputation by forcing the boy who lived to marry your son? Or is it that your son is so tired of being bested by Edmund he needs his daddy to fight his battles?"

"I have no desire to have such an arrogant, pathetic excuse of a wizard like Edmund enter my family. Need I remind you that you have two sons?" he asked, handing over the betrothal contract.

James started slightly at the question. It shocked him enough that he failed to take notice of the slur on Edmund. "Harry? Why would you want Harry?" he pressed after reading the second document.

Lucius shrugged elegantly. "I believe he would make an adequate Malfoy consort."

James thought back to the last time he had seen Harry. The boy was certainly small and rather timid. Yes, he could see how having such a consort would make the Malfoys feel powerful, but he still thought that this was just a power play that Malfoy was trying to pull. He just needed to figure out how to correctly call his bluff. "The agreement clearly says that the union must produce at least one child. You expect me to believe that you don't mind having a genetically inferior heir? Or is your son such a pansy he is unable to produce natural heirs?"

Lucius gave no outward sign at having his suspicions confirmed, but he wanted to sneer at the man. It was well known that James was very wrapped up with Edmund's life, but to be so at the expense of not knowing your other child? Inexcusable! Merlin, he was a former death eater and he knew that! This was the man who had won father of the year three years in a row? Pathetic! Well he certainly wasn't going to enlighten the fool. "Unlike some narrow minded people I don't hold to the prejudice against potion assisted pregnancy. My best friend is a potion master and I am sure that any child resulting from one of his potions would be vastly superior to any that your precious boy who lived could produce. No mater how many witches he might knock up," he answered, hinting on the scandal of last year, when there were rumours that Edmund had gotten a third year pregnant.

James flushed angrily at the not so subtle jibe. It had taken a bit of money to hush the girl and her family up, but in the end he had managed to make the problem go away. How dare he look down on Edmund? At least he could get someone pregnant without a potion!

"Now I think I have been patient enough. Are you going to sign or do I get the great delight of seeing the destruction of the Potter line?"

"I think it best if we went before the Wizengamot. I am sure they will find a way to overturn this ridiculous agreement," James said. Although he wasn't close to his younger son and was quite disappointed in some of the choices he had made, he still cared for him. He didn't want to force him into a perverted relationship with the spawn of a death eater. He might not be the wizard Edmund is, but certainly there was a witch somewhere out there that would want him. If for no other reason then to be so closely connected to the Boy-Who-Lived.

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "We can go that route if you wish, but you should know that if we do, I will change the name on the betrothal contract to Edmund. He might not make a good consort at the moment, but we Malfoys know how to break wilful and unfaithful spouses."

James shuddered slightly at the threat. Even if the man was bluffing there was no way he could risk Edmund like that. He couldn't hand his beloved son over to death eaters. Slowly he raised his cermonial quill and signed his name. Harry would just have to understand that sometimes sacrifices had to be made.


	5. Never Piss off a Zabini

AN: First of all, wow I actually wasn't trying to make James a complete bastard last chapter. If you didn't like James last chapter you will really hate him this chapter. Next for all of you who aren't familiar with the title system read the author's note at the end of the chapter for more information. Again thank you for all the reviews.

Chapter 4: Never Piss off a Zabini

Lio looked around the table with a small smile. He always felt so content here. He knew most of his classmates enjoyed the freedom that being at school allowed them, but he loved being with his family. He was interrupted from his internal musings by a house elf handing him a letter. He took it and instantly recognized the Potter seal. He opened it and read the short note quickly. His strangled gasp drew the attention of his family.

"Lio, what is it?"

Lio looked up to see the concerned looks on his family's faces. He opened his mouth, only to find he couldn't speak past the lump in his throat.

Giuseppe felt his heart clench as he took in the pale face and emerald eyes filled with tears. He had never seen Lio so distressed. "Figlio (son) what is wrong?"

Lio opened his mouth to try again. Finding his voice, he whispered, "It is from my father. He is ordering me to immediately return to England. He has arranged a marriage for me."

"What?!" the head of the Zabini clan exploded. He held out his hand and wordlessly Lio handed him the letter. Giuseppe felt rage sweep over him as he read the short and rather cold message. Slowly he crumpled the parchment with his hand. "Maria, will you please take Lenora and Marta from the room."

She silently rose from her chair and ushered the younger girls from the room. Before she followed them, she kissed Lio lightly on the head. "Do not despair so much, sweetheart. You know Papa will take care of this."

Lio leaned into her slightly and allowed himself to take comfort from her. "Si Mamma."

Giuseppe waited for the door to close completely before erupting into a long stream of profanity. As Lio watched in silence, he noticed that his eldest brother Claudius, and Toni also had furious expressions on their faces. "Just who does this man think he is, ordering my son around and expecting obedience? As if Lio was some well trained puppy! How dare that egotistical bastard attempt to dictate anything in your life! Antonio, please contact the Medicis for me. It seems the barbarians are suffering from delusions of importance. Apparently they need to be reminded that if we hadn't brought civilization to them they'd still be playing with rocks in an attempt to harness their magic!" He walked around the table to embrace Lio. "That man has another thing coming to him if he thinks I will allow you to be sold off to the highest bidder."

"I don't think he has."

"Why not Lio? The archaic beliefs of British wizards are well known."

"Si, but I never told them that I am a bearer."

"Why?" Claudius asked.

"I didn't know that I was one the last time I was in England. I had only realized that I was gay a few months before. I had planned on telling them that I was gay, after all I had told you and you were all fine with it. Before I could figure out how to bring up the subject, Edmund told me some of his adventures at Hogwarts….

"The best thing we did this year was we successfully got rid of that pansy Neville!" Edmund said gleefully.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, trying to hide the fear that was starting to form in his heart.

"There was this boy in our dorm, Neville Longbottom. He was practically a squib, in fact I think he actually is one and Dumbledore just let him in out of pity. Anyway it came out in the middle of last year that he's a fag. A real one, not someone who just experiments in the alcoves. He actually likes to take it up the duff! Well there was no way we were going to have a queer in Gryfindor. We told him this but he needed some persuasion. It took some doing but we finally convinced him that he wanted to be resorted into a different house. Ended up in Hufflepuff." Edmund bragged.

"What did you do to him?"

"Oh we first hexed him so that he was rainbow coloured for a week. Then we transfigured all his clothes into skirts and dresses. We let his pet toad loose deep in the forbidden forest. The thing that finally clinched it was when we destroyed his private greenhouse. He really likes herbology and was working on some project. Had to start all over."

Harry felt sick to his stomach. "You didn't get in trouble? Does Mum and Dad know?"

"Of course I didn't get into trouble, he would never accuse the boy who lived. As for Mum and Dad, well I don't think Mum knows, she is too serious to appreciate pranks, but Dad? He gave us some of the best ideas, even let me use his invisibility cloak so we wouldn't get caught!" Edmund noticed his twin's silence. "What is the matter? Certainly you're not feeling sorry for the freak, are you?"

Harry tried to shrug nonchalantly. "I guess I am just used to the Italian attitude towards homosexuality. There it is accepted as the same as heterosexuality."

Lio saw the look of revulsion on his Papa's face. He felt sick as well, especially because his story wasn't finished yet. "I knew that I couldn't tell them that I was gay. I thought that the issue was behind me, but he must have mentioned my acceptance of homosexuality to James because the next day I was pulled in for a lecture. He told me that gay wizards were dark and even used my godfather as an example. Remus is a werewolf, but he was gentle and kind. He always had time for me. He never gave into his inner wolf, except for one thing, he accepted his mate, his male mate. To James that meant that he had succumbed to being a dark creature. This was the real reason all contact between him and I ended when I was seven. Not only did my father forbid him from ever seeing me again, he made it impossible for him to find work or a place to live. He sat there and proudly told me of his success in driving Remus from Britain. He then wanted to know how many girlfriends I had had. I used the excuse that people didn't date in the same way in Italy as they did in the UK, but that I had a couple of girls I was close to. I knew I couldn't let him find out I was gay. He was already disappointed that I wasn't more like Edmund. I was afraid of what he might do if he found out," he hung his head as he finished his tale.

At the knowledge that his son had feared for his safety and from the man who called himself father, the hot rage that had been building in Giuseppe's heart turned to cold hatred. Both he and Maria had noticed how withdrawn Lio had been after his trip, but they hadn't wanted to push. Now that he thought about it, it was that summer that he started calling them Papa and Mamma, instead of their names as he had before. He reached out his hand and tipped Lio's face back up. "You hold your head up. You have every right to be proud of who you are. You are special, not simply because of your ability to bear children, but because you are a talented and gifted wizard with a generous and pure heart. Don't worry we will take care of everything."

Lio was prevented from answering by the door opening and Toni returning, Blaise trailing behind him.

"Nephew, this is a surprise. I am afraid that we have just had a major family issue arise and are unable to welcome you properly."

Blaise nodded his head and prayed his uncle wouldn't kill the messenger. Merlin his friend owed him major for this. "I know. I had hoped to reach you before you received the news in an attempt to make this easier."

"You know of this? Do you know who he has betrothed Lio to?"

"You don't know?" Blaise asked, his black eyes widening. Oh Merlin, this wasn't good. He just knew he was going to end up being blamed for this.

"No, the bastard didn't even have the decency to provide that information. He just demanded that Lio return to England."

Blaise took a deep breath. "He is engaged to Draco Malfoy."

"What?! That wizard you brought here? How dare you bring a dishonourable person into my home. What sort of school are you attending?"

"Please Uncle!" Blaise interjected. He was somewhat relieved that while shouting his uncle had at least refrained from drawing his wand. "This isn't Draco's doing. This isn't what he wanted."

"I'm engaged to a man that doesn't even want me?" Lio asked, his face paling further.

"Oh no Lio, that isn't what I meant," Blaise quickly reassured him. "He most definitely wants you, but not like this. He was horrified when he learnt what his father had done. He had planned on coming to Italy this summer in the hopes of starting a friendship with you, that might lead to a relationship sometime in the future. He certainly didn't want for you to have no choice in the matter."

"So what happened?"

"Lord Malfoy overheard a conversation between us about you. Lord Malfoy is a very cunning, determined wizard. When he heard that Draco was serious about you he decided that Draco would have you no matter what."

"If your friend is honourable like you say, why doesn't he break the betrothal and proceed with his original plan? It would go a long way in proving his intentions," Claudius asked.

"Under British law he can't. If he breaks the betrothal, then he is legally prevented from ever binding with Lio in the future."

"Well as I said before, I think it is high time certain people were reminded who they are dealing with and how unimportant they really are. I assume we may stay with you while in London?"

"Of course. Mother is currently in Athens, but I had the house elves prepare the townhouse before leaving to come here."

After meeting with Vincenzio Medici it was decided that rather than leaving in a few hours as originally planned, they would wait a week. The reason was that by waiting a week, they would arrive just four days before Lio's seventeenth birthday. That would give the Potters less time to figure out a way to control him. Well, that was the official reason anyway. Blaise thought that it had more to do with his uncle wanting to show that no one orders a Zabini to immediately appear before them, especially not some lowly English baronet!

********************

James looked up in surprise as two men entered his office without knocking. "How dare you just burst in here without an invitation! Who the hell are you?" he demanded, as he stood up wand extended.

Giuseppe waved his hand and James's wand flew across the room and stuck to the wall. "How dare you draw your wand on us! I am Signore Zabini, Marchese di Florence. My companion is Signore Medici, son and heir to Granduca di Tuscany."

Although James understood the importance of the two men in front of him, he couldn't quite keep the irritation from his voice. "I appologize for drawing my wand, but I am unaccustomed to strangers entering my office without introduction. I assume Harry is in his quarters settling in. Thank you for escorting him home. I am sure that you are both busy men and I have no wish to delay you. I will have an elf show you out."

"First of all, your manners are deplorable. Second, no Lio is not in his quarters."

James gritted his teeth. Italians were so arrogant! "Then where is he? In the hall?"

"No, he is where he should be. Safe in the Zabini home."

"What?! Why isn't he here? He needs to sign the betrothal contract."

"Why should he? Why should he accept any marriage that you have arranged for him?"

"How dare you encourage him to be rebellious?! He will accept this marriage and fulfil his duty to his family. He owes me his obedience!" James yelled with a red face.

"Duty? What duty? What right do you have to demand anything?" Giovanni Medici scoffed.

"I am his father! I have the right to do as I wish."

"Father? You may be his sire, but you have no right to the title of his father. What have you ever done for Lio? When I first met him, I thought he was from a poor family. Imagine my shock, when I learnt that your family was reasonably wealthy. Was it your intention to humiliate him by refusing to provide for his basic needs? Well I was not going to stand by and watch a twelve year old try to decide between purchasing his school supplies or robes that fit. Don't even attempt to say you didn't know you weren't sending enough, as for the past three years you haven't sent enough money to cover his entire tuition."

"I wasn't about to waste my money on those pansy classes he wanted to take. I told the Headmaster that I would pay for worthwhile classes and that if Harry wished to continue to play around with paint and music, he would need to find a way of paying for it himself. I sent him to that school so he could learn a profession in order to distinguish himself, not become a stupid housewife! It could easily be that this marriage is the best thing for him. With such a worthless education, he never would have been able to support a witch anyway."

"What right do you have to determine what he does for a living? Who are you to say that his talents are worthless? Lio has…"

James interrupted the wizard. "As much as you disagree, he is my son, and under British law I have the right to treat him as I wish. Besides, you should know that my son's inheritance depends on this marriage."

"And by son, you mean Edmund don't you? Do not think we are unaware of the pittance you have settled on Lio. You ask Lio to sacrifice his future, so that that your lazy, worthless firstborn can sit around and do nothing with his life." Giovanni stated. "Please feel free to disown Lio! I can name at least fifteen families who would adopt him in a heartbeat. You won't though will you? For you know that if you do, it will fall to Edmund to honour the contract."

"We only stopped by to inform you that the situation is out of your hands. MY son is respectful and honourable. He will not accept any marriage proposal without my approval. Know this, if was simply up to me, I would take great delight in tearing you and your line apart. Only out of respect for Lio will I meet with Lord Malfoy and his son in order to determine if this match is at all acceptable. Good day Sir James." The two men left the room without waiting for a reply. They had one more father to speak to that day.

********************************

Draco was in his father's study discussing a recent policy change, when a house elf popped in to inform them that a Signore Zabini and Signore Medici were here and were requesting an audience. Lucius and Draco exchanged a look. It was clear that it wasn't really a request.

"Please send them in," Lucius told the elf.

It was obvious that the two wizards were of the upper crust of society. Not only that but they both simply oozed power. Draco had to fight hard not to squirm under their gazes. Lucius offered refreshments, which were refused.

"Lord Malfoy, I don't know if you are aware of it, but in Italy we no longer hold to the practice of choosing our children's spouses. In fact the last time such a barbaric practice took place was over three hundred years ago." Giuseppe stated.

Lucius brushed off the implied insult. "Although arranged marriages are somewhat rare here, they are not unheard of. There is an old marriage agreement between the Malfoy and Potter families that needed to be fulfilled. When I heard of Draco's interest, I decided to enact the agreement."

"Is your son so undesirable that he is unable to win a spouse without your help?" Giovanni asked.

At this Lucius did bristle a little. After all it was one thing to have one's country and culture insulted, it was quite another for it to be one's son and heir. "There is no question to Draco's ability to secure the affections of the wizard of his choosing. However, with Harry living so far away and the Potter family being as they are, I wished to make it easier for him. To be sure the Malfoy name my not be as politically and socially significant as your families, but here in the United Kingdom, we are among the top families."

"Do you think your pedigree allows you to act dishonourably towards my son? To treat Lio without respect? I don't care what agreement you have with the Potters. It is I who will decide whether this marriage will take place. You can throw your weight around as much as you please on this little island, it will have no bearing on my decision."

"Powerful you may be, but not even you can make a magical agreement disappear."

Giuseppe raised a single brow. "Perhaps not, but we can make your son disappear."

Draco had to bite the inside of his cheek. In fact if it hadn't been his life that had just been so casually and calmly threatened, he would have laughed out loud. Never in his life had he seen his father show shock on his face. He decided he had better step in before things disintegrated beyond repair. He carefully chose his words in order to neither insult the Italians nor disrespect his father. "Signore Zabini, I assure you my father meant no disrespect by his actions. As Blaise informed you, I had planned on returning to Italy this summer. Perhaps my father acted a little hastily, but his intentions were honourable. He simply wanted what he thought was in my best interest."

"What of my son's best interest?"

Draco sighed softly. "The Potter's prejudice against homosexuality is well known. My father believed that if word reached James Potter that Lio was in a relationship with a wizard, he would have betrothed Lio to a witch."

"Lio will be of age in four days. It was your father's actions that brought Lio to the attention of James Potter."

Draco shook his head slightly. "Under old pureblood law a father has the right to arrange a marriage for any child who isn't the heir. It wouldn't matter if Lio was a hundred. It is an ancient law and most parents wouldn't arrange a marriage for their overage child, but Potter hates homosexuality so much that if he learnt Lio was gay I believe he would."

Giuseppe and Giovanni exchanged a look. "You believe he would have do this even though Lio is a bearer?" Giovanni asked.

Draco breathed in sharply. "He is a bearer?" he replied in surprise.

"You didn't know?" Giuseppe questioned. When he received a negative response, he studied the young man for a moment before continuing. "I am well aware of the British attitude towards potion assisted pregnancy. If you didn't know Lio was a bearer then what were your plans for producing an heir? Were you planning on being unfaithful to my son?"

"Of course not!" Draco denied immediately. "The majority of British wizards are complete idiots on the matter. My godfather is a potion master. I am well aware of the fact that there is nothing wrong with a child born with the assistance of a potion."

"Lio has been accepted into an artisan apprenticeship. It is a long, hard process and must take place in Italy. You would support him in this process?"

Draco nodded at Giovanni. "Yes. It was clear when I met him that though he was born British, Lio is Italian now. I wouldn't force him to return to the UK. Malfoy industries have offices all over the world, including Italy."

After a moment of silence Giuseppe spoke. "I am not sure if this marriage or you are in the best interest of my son. However I will allow you the chance to prove yourself. I give you permission to court my son. Having said that, Lord Malfoy, although it wasn't your intention, you caused great distress to my son. Take care never to do so again. Believe me, you do not want the Zabini and Medici families as enemies. As for you Draco, I have given you permission to formally court Lio. Blaise can answer any questions you may have, but let me be perfectly clear on one thing. You will keep your hands to yourself, or I will cut them off. Do we understand each other?"

"Si Signore Zabini."

"Then we take our leave. Good day," Giuseppe responded before he and Giovanni did what was suppose to have been impossible for a non-Malfoy and apparated from the room.

Lucius slowly walked across the room and shakily poured himself a healthy amount of fire whiskey. After he had thrown it back he turned to his son. "Draco, I know that you are quite taken with the boy, but are you completely sure about this? There would be no shame in quietly backing out."

Draco smiled softly. "I am sure. Appeasing his family may be difficult, but he is worth it."

*************************************

Later that evening Blaise asked him the same question. Draco huffed in annoyance. He could understand his father's doubts, after all he hadn't met Lio yet, but Blaise? "Yes I am sure. Merlin Blaise, he is your cousin! Don't you think he is worth it?"

"Of course I do. I am simply wondering if you realise what you have gotten yourself into. A formal Italian courtship is nothing like dating. It is a long process that is full of rules and regulations that must be followed. Of course you and Lio will be allowed to get to know each other, mainly through correspondence, but the point of the courtship is for you to prove your worth to the family. You will be judged and tested. If everything goes perfectly smooth, you might be allowed to get married in two years."

"Two years?"

"A courtship lasts for at least a year, followed by a betrothal of at least a year."

"Okay," Draco responded, starting to realise that there might be a bit more to this then he first thought.

"You are prepared to be completely chaste for two years?"

"What do you mean by completely chaste?"

Blaise groaned lightly. "Draco, did you not notice how reserved my cousin and his fiancé were?"

"Well yes, but I thought that was just because they were in public."

"No Draco, during the courtship you will never be alone. Dates will be few and far between and they will be chaperoned. The most that you can hope for is holding hands. Once you are formally betrothed, the watchers will step back but they won't disappear. You may be allowed to kiss him on the cheek or forehead. If you are really lucky you might be able to kiss very briefly on the mouth, but knowing my uncle, I wouldn't count on it. Francesca's father has restricted Toni to only kissing her on the hand, and I wouldn't be surprised if my uncle gave you the same."

Draco swallowed audibly. "Sweet Merlin! I am not sure how I will manage it, but like I said before he is worth it."

"Yes, well, I suppose you will get to know your right hand really well."

"Thank you Blaise," he answered dryly. He scowled at the smirking boy. "You know you don't have to take so much pleasure in this!"

Blaise's smirk grew. Sure Draco was his best friend, but it would be great fun watching him suffer. "So when are you going to start the courtship?"

Draco shot his friend a confused look. "Hasn't it begun? Your uncle gave me permission this afternoon."

Blaise groaned again. "By the saints I need to get you a book. The courtship doesn't start until you send the first gift." At Draco's blank look, he continued. "For the first six weeks of the courtship contact is limited. Each week you will send a gift and letter of explanation. For the first gift you will pick three flowers to symbolise how you see Lio, and three coloured ribbons to declare what you want to obtain from this courtship. You need to choose the three ribbons very carefully because at the end of the courtship you will be judged on how successful you have been. If the family doesn't believe that you have "earned" your ribbons, you won't be allowed to propose. Still with me?" After Draco nodded he continued.

"The other five gifts are for you to show your personality and what is important to you. If the family believes that your gifts have been acceptable then Lio will be given permission to write you. If they don't then the courtship is over. It is important to remember that it isn't the value of the gifts that matter. What does matter is that they must be purchased with your own money."

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"It means that you have to go get a job."

AN: Nobility in this story.

James is a Baronet. A baronet isn't part of the aristocracy. It is part of the gentry. Malfoy is an Earl, which is two steps above a baronet. Giuseppe Zabini is an Italian Marquis, which is the equivalence of an British Duke. Technically he is only one step above Malfoy, however he is the Marquis of Florence, which is the capital of Tuscany. Medici is the Granduca of Tuscany. In the UK that would be like the Prince of Wales. In canon Harry Potter, Magical Britain's government system followed the Muggle system. In my story this didn't happen in Italy, so while in the Muggle world Italy unified and got rid of the nobility system, the Wizarding world stayed with the old system.


	6. The Courtship Begins

AN: Thank you all for the reviews.

Chapter 5: The Courtship Begins

A week later Lio was once again in the breakfast room eating with his family. They had returned to Florence the day after his seventeenth birthday, for they had some paper work that needed to be filed. Whilst in London he hadn't left the townhouse out of fear that he would be snatched. He knew the Potters were not happy with him, especially since the British Minister refused to help them. Since returning to Italy he had receive a single letter. Apparently James thought Lily might be able to convince their wayward son.

_Lio and Maria were sitting in the sunroom when a house elf popped in. Lio sighed when he took the letter it had. He instantly recognised both the seal and the handwriting. Giving a small smile to a concerned Maria, he broke the seal._

_**Dear Harry,**_

_**Son, I can easily understand your reluctance to accept such a marriage. I too was upset when I first heard of it from your father. However, you must know that he had no choice. If he hadn't signed, Edmund might have been in danger, and with the war against Voldemort that risk couldn't be taken. The situation may not be fair, but it is what it is.**_

_**I know that we haven't been close in the past few years, but do you really wish to see the destruction of your family?**_

_**Mum**_

_Lio shook his head. It was pretty much what he expected, and when his Mamma asked if she could read it, he handed it over._

_Maria Zabini read the short letter quickly, snorting in disgust. "Despicable shrew!" she exclaimed when she finished._

_Lio looked at her in shock. His Mamma was normally a mild mannered, soft spoken witch. He had never heard her speak so harshly about another._

_Maria laughed lightly at her son's expression. "Do not be so surprised sweetheart. Did you think I would not react to her attempt to make you feel guilty for her deplorable behaviour?" _

_Lio's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Her behaviour? James is the one who signed the contract, and as much as I hate it, I can understand why he would choose Edmund over me."_

"_Now stop right there. As much as James and Lily would like everyone to believe that the Malfoys were making them choose between Edmund and you, that isn't true. There was a third option."_

"_Well yes, but no one could expect them to give up their magic and everything."_

"_Why not? Lio, I don't want you to ever think that you are not worth that kind of sacrifice." Seeing he was unconvinced, she continued. "First of all, they wouldn't have lost all their magic, just the family magics. While no family wishes to surrender their grimoire or special talents, any decent parent would do so without a thought. As to their money and possessions, James Potter has a job has he not? And from what I have heard about Lily, she certainly is qualified for work. They might not have ended up with the lifestyle they have now, but they wouldn't have been suffering."_

"_But why do you blame Lily? I know I am repeating myself, but James is the one who signed the contract."_

"_Yes, but she let him. James may be the head of the family, but a mother's first priority should always be his or her children. A husband is chosen, but children can't choose to come into the world, therefore they must come first. Not that he would, but do you think that I would ever allow your Papa to do something that would hurt you or your siblings?"_

_Lio chuckled and shook his head. His Mamma and Papa had a traditional Italian marriage. His Papa was the head of the family, and his Mamma was the neck._

He hadn't written back, and hoped that they had gotten the message. He never thought he would so dramatically break with his biological family. He figured he would just quietly drift away. Of course, he never thought that James would try to arrange a marriage for him either. Oh he knew that Lord Malfoy was far from blameless, but at least his actions were motivated by the desire to see his son happy. James had sold him out in order to keep Edmund happy. He knew how little James thought of him. His Papa thought him unaware that he had been paying for the majority of his expenses, but he knew. All prep students were required to take a music course, and a creative expression course. He had loved them, and had found talents he didn't know he had. It was natural for him to choose to continue the classes when he started regular school. The money James had sent for his school supplies for his first year of regular school was a little low, but he had thought that it was just because he didn't realise how expensive art supplies were. Instead of writing home for more money, he had bought a couple of his books second hand and skimped on robes.

It was the summer following that year where his heart was bruised for the first time. Not only had he felt like didn't fit in at home anymore, but when he returned to Italy the week before school resumed to get his supplies, he learnt that his father hadn't sent enough money to cover all of them. Headmaster DiGarte didn't believe in hiding the truth from his students, but he was still a kind hearted wizard. He had tried to assure Lio it was just that his father didn't understand the cultural importance of the classes he wanted to take. The young twelve year old had grabbed on to that excuse as a lifeline. After all, it was far better to believe that his father was culturally ignorant than that he didn't care if he was happy or not. However, whatever the reason was, it still didn't change the fact that the amount of money he was being handed, an amount he would later learn had already been padded by the Headmaster's own savings, was nowhere near enough to pay for everything he needed. If he hadn't had that summer growth spurt he might have been able to manage by buying everything second hand, and using the library's copies for some of his textbooks, but he needed new robes. Walking around vicolo di mercantile (merchant's alley) with Toni and his family, his heart sank. Even if he only bought the minimum of three robes and got them, and everything else, second hand, he wouldn't be able to afford his art supplies.

Giuseppe had suggested that they not buy anything, but instead come back in a couple of days. Lio had spent the night agonizing, trying to decide if he should sell his violin or give up art. After a tear filled night he had decided to sell his violin. As much as he loved to play, he dreamed of being an artisan. When the Headmaster had informed him later that day that he had received more money for his supplies, he had been too relieved to question where the money had come from, and had assumed that his father had had a change of heart. Later though, after he thought about it, and analysed all the clues, he had realised that that wasn't the case. At first it was hard for him to accept, but as Toni had explained, he had been claimed as son and brother. He was family, and family took care of their own. It was then that Lio started thinking of Giuseppe as Papa. Oh, he still called him by his name, calling him Papa still felt too disloyal in the twelve year old's mind, but in his heart, James had been replaced.

His thoughts drifted to Draco. Although he hadn't heard from the Malfoy heir yet, he knew his Papa had given his permission for a courtship, and that the blonde had gotten a job. Lio found much amusement in the fact that he was now working for his two good friends, Fred and George. The twins had written to tell him that while originally they had hired him because they wanted to evaluate him as a suitor to their friend, he was actually proving his worth as a salesman. He had even given them a couple of ideas for new products.

While Lio was thinking of all of this, a large owl swooped into the room. It was carrying a large paper wrapped bundle. It hovered before Harry, and allowed him to take the package before landing on the table. His entire family watched as he opened it, and pulled out three white flowers, a Hibiscus, a Clematis, and an Alyssum. Next he pulled out three ribbons of green, yellow, and pink. He opened the accompanying letter, and began to read to small, neat script.

_Dear Lio,_

_This is my owl Hera. She is spoiled, finicky, and haughty, but if you scratch her on the underside of her neck, she will love you forever. _Lio smiled softly before reaching out to scratch the owl. He smiled as the regal bird seemed to melt under his hand. _The first flower I send is a Hibiscus for delicate beauty. While it is true that it was your physical beauty that first drew me, as I watched you during my stay in Italy, I quickly learned that your true beauty resides in your soul. The next flower I send you is a Clematis for your intelligence. Although I wasn't able to talk to you as much as I would have liked, I learnt from your brother Antonio, that you are quite intelligent. You must be if you are able to take twelve classes next year. Intelligence has always been important to me, and learning how intelligent you were only added to your allure. The final flower is Alyssum, meaning worth beyond beauty. Yes, it was your beauty that first drew me, and your intelligence attracts me, but it not simply for these that I value you. I value you for everything that makes you, you. There were so many messages I wanted to send you that if I wasn't bound by the tradition of three, you would have received a huge bouquet. I admit I did cheat a bit, for I sent three white flowers to represent your purity of heart and soul._

_For our courtship, I first chose a green ribbon, to symbolise knowledge and learning. I look forward to getting to know you better, as well as learning new things together. I have been told that common interests are important for a healthy relationship._

_This leads to my next choice, yellow for friendship. When I was eight, my mother told me that it was important for me to marry my best friend. I admit that at the time I didn't quite understand what she meant, and thought she wanted me to marry Blaise, an idea that he quite firmly shot down. He still teases me about it to this day. Now that I understand what she meant, I wish to follow her advice. I want for us to become best friends, not to replace those friendships that already exist, but to add to them._

_Which of course leads to my final ribbon. Not red for passion, but pink for love. True love that will stand the test of time. So knowledge, friendship, and love is what I desire for our courtship, and by this I wish to be judged. I know that I have set a hard task for us, as we are almost strangers, but I believe that if we are willing and honest with each other, we will get there._

_With the highest regard,_

_Draco_

As the letter made its way around the table, Lio gently ran a finger along the Alyssum. Although he knew his family loved him, and thought him special, he had never really felt special. Oh sure, being a bearer was rare, and he had the potential to become a great artisan, but those were just things he could do. He tended to think that who and what he was on the inside was rather ordinary, yet here was this wizard, telling him he was greatly valued. Lio wasn't exactly sure what to think about that, especially since his Papa had told him that Draco hadn't known he was a bearer, but he was touched. Maybe this courtship wouldn't be so bad after all.

After breakfast Lio took the three flowers to his room, where he cast an everlasting charm on the Alyssum. Throughout the week, the sight of the flowers would bring a small smile to his face.

The next week found all of his siblings conveniently at home. They were, not so subtly, dawdling over breakfast as they all wanted to see what the next gift would be. "You know if you have things you need to do, I could just ask an elf to let you know when it arrives."

"Whatever do you mean brother? We are just enjoying our coffee," answered Julian with a smirk.

Lio rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, for they don't have coffee in France, where you live."

His eldest sister Angela laughed. "You might as well accept that the family will be extremely nosey. Look on the bright side, at least you don't have to worry that someone will open, and destroy, one of your gifts before you even have the chance to see it."

Toni huffed slightly. "In my defence, I would like to remind you that I was only three. I don't even remember doing it."

As the family laughed over the memory, Hera flew in. Lio relieved her of her burden, and scratched her again. Inside he found a leather bound book, which turned out to be photo album.

_Dear Lio,_

_This week I am sending you a photo album of the most important thing in my life, my family and friends. Most of the world thinks that my parents are cold and heartless. I hope that this album shows that that is not true. Unlike you, my family is quite small. I am an only child, as is my father. My mother has two sisters, one has no children, and the other has one daughter. Unfortunately, due to the fact that she ran away to marry someone my grandparents didn't approve of, I have never met her or my cousin._

_I have also included pictures of my closest friends, many of whom I have had in my life since a baby. The only person whom I haven't included is my Godfather. Uncle Sev is probably the person who has influenced me the most, but the man absolutely refuses to have a picture taken. I even tried to sneak one, but he banished the camera and told me if he caught me again, he would use me as potion ingredients._

_Warm regards,_

_Draco_

As Lio slowly flipped through the album, he felt as if he was seeing Draco's life. Under each picture was a caption explaining the scene. There was Draco's sixth birthday, him with the Dragon Pox at the age of eight, his friends Blaise, Vince, Greg, Theo and Pansy. There were pictures of him sitting on his father's lap, and him with his Mum wrapping a present. There was even a picture of his nanny elf Moppy.

It was a few days before Lio and Toni would start their last year. It was also the year that the baby of the family, Lenora, would start prep. The summer had certainly gone fast, and he had spent a fair amount of it thinking about a certain blonde. So far, in addition to the flowers and album, he had received a golden snitch to represent Draco's love of quidditch and flying, and a soft blanket in green and silver to show his love of school and being Slytherin, a house that was often misunderstood. He had also received several vials of trick potions to represent not only his love of potions, but also his growing friendship with the Weasley twins. His Papa had smiled at this gift, but had quickly informed him that if he turned his younger sisters green, he would be on restriction for the rest of the summer. When Toni had protested not being included in the warning, Papa had stated that he believed that an engaged wizard should be able to watch out for himself. Toni was now being very careful not to accept any food or drink from Lio.

Today was the day he would receive the final gift, and he couldn't wait. As much as he enjoyed getting to know Draco this way, he really wanted to be able to write back. He was also looking forward to no longer being the centre of attention. As the weeks had gone by, more and more of the family had joined them. In fact, there were so many people here today, that they had had to more breakfast to the dinning hall. They had just finished eating when Blaise walked in.

"Blaise! Welcome, we weren't expecting you."

"Good Morning Uncle, Aunt. I am here to deliver the last gift. It is something that you really can't send with an owl." He walked over to Lio, and handed him a cardboard box that had holes poked in the top.

Lio slowly opened it and peered inside. He gasped softly, and gently picked up the small bundle of fur. The little black cat opened slate grey eyes to look at him. "Oh aren't you sweet!" he exclaimed as he nuzzled the kitten against his cheek.

The majority of his family melted slightly at the sight. Lio had gotten a cat when he was nine. Unfortunately, the poor thing had only lived to the age of five. Lio had been devastated, and had refused to even think about getting a new familiar. His family was starting to get worried, as it was important for a wizard, especially a future artisan, to have a bonded familiar in order to absorb the excess magics that surround them. They were surprised to see him accept it so quickly, but were happy to see the bond form. Well, most of them anyway. Blaise was glad that Lio was too wrapped up in his new pet to hear the comment further down the table.

"A cat?! Can't he afford a real gift? The thing isn't even a pureblood. What kind of wizard are you letting court Lio?"

"Silence Odette!" Melita ordered her French daughter-in-law. She hadn't really approved of her youngest son's choice, but for his sake she kept quiet, for the most part. She wasn't going to let this slide though. "Only a fool sees value as a measure of gallons."

After a few moments of cuddling Lio moved on to the letter.

_Dear Lio,_

_When I was six my parents gave be a beautiful Siberian Forest cat that I named Sasha. She was my constant companion before I went to Hogwarts, and we got into all sorts of mischief. I am giving you one of her sons. Normally I wouldn't breed a cat of her age, but she somehow managed to escape from the manor one day, and met up with our neighbour's kneezle. A fact that our neighbour tried to deny, until presented with the evidence that two of the kittens look exactly like their father. This little guy looks just like his mother, and reminds me of you. He is gentle and sweet._

_I know that you lost your familiar several years ago, and have been reluctant to get a new one. I understand how you feel. Hera wasn't my first owl. As a going away gift my parents gave me a beautiful snowy owl to take to Hogwarts. Athena was intelligent and kind. During my third year, she had a run in with a couple of students, and didn't survive. A few months later my father showed up with Hera. At first I felt like I was betraying Athena, but my father told me that getting a new familiar didn't mean you were replacing the old one, just making room for a new friend._

_Affectionately,_

_Draco_

Lio picked up the kitten and letter, and walked around the table to Giuseppe. He silently handed his Papa the letter.

Giuseppe took the parchment, and read the short letter. He smile when he handed it back. Although it was common for the explanation letters to be read by the entire family, technically only he, as the protector, had to. He knew that Lio was a private person, and although he might not mind if his brothers and sisters read the letter, some of the people around the table were little more than strangers. "You have my permission to write him if you so wish." He was rewarded with Lio's brilliant smile and a soft thank you, before Lio quickly left the room.

By the time he entered his room the elves had set up everything a cat would need. He sat down on his bed and scratched the kitten behind it's ears. "What should I call you? Your eyes are silver and your fur is more of a dark grey than black. Hmm…. I know, how about Pewter? When they first started making pewter it contained a higher amount of lead than what it does today, so it was a dark grey colour." Getting no negative response from the kitten settled the matter. "Why don't you stay here and sleep while I write Draco."

Draco put the book he had been trying to read down. He had been looking at the same page for almost a half an hour. He wasn't nervous, because Malfoys are never nervous, but since the time Blaise had left, he had been feeling…distracted. He had been taking a risk by sending the kitten, and hoped that it would be well received.

Normally he would go flying to pass the time, but flying while distracted was just asking for trouble. It didn't help matters that his father kept smirking at him. Finally, having enough, he had retreated to his bedroom.

It was now evening, and he was rather tired of waiting. He didn't feel like joining his parents for dinner, for he was fairly certain that his mum would join his father in teasing him. Besides, he hadn't had much of an appetite today. He was about to summon an elf to inform his parents not to wait for him, when there was a tapping on his window. Draco leapt from the bed to let a brown owl in. He took the letter from it, and introduced it to Hera. He had explained to her earlier that she was to be nice, and share. He broke the seal and began to read.

_Dear Draco,_

_Thank you for all of the gifts you sent me. I agree completely with your ribbon choices. I have watched my brother and Francesca's relationship grow out of friendship, and it is what I want as well. The flowers were beautiful, and I appreciate the sentiments behind them. I don't know if I would say that I am particularly intelligent though. I think the reason I am taking so many classes this coming year, has more to do with my inability to chose between electives than any brilliance I might have. I enjoyed being introduced to your family and friends through the album. I look forward to meeting them sometime in the future. _

_I also enjoy quidditch. I played as seeker for a few years before becoming too busy to continue. My elder brother Mario, is a professional keeper. He plays for the Vratsa Vultures during the regular season, and hopes to make the Italian National team next summer._

_So you are a Slytherin? Although I grew up hearing stories about Hogwarts, time and distance has made me forget a lot about the house system there. You have told me about Slytherin, and I know some about Gryfindor from the Potters, but know almost nothing about the other houses. Although separating the students in such a manner seems strange to me, as the Academy takes a very different approach, I am curious as to what house I would have been in if I had attended Hogwarts. From your description I don't think I would be a Slytherin, as I don't think I am ambitious enough, but I also know I wouldn't end up in Gryfindor either. _

_I was surprised to learn that you had decided to work for Fred and George. I know that there is quite the feud between your two families. I am glad that the three of you were able to look past that, and start a friendship. They have been the only people I have kept close contact with in the United Kingdom, and to answer your question, yes I am their investor. I sold a couple of sketches in order to provide them with the funds needed._

_Your final gift was perfect. You were right about why I was so reluctant to get a new familiar. Solis helped me through several rough times. He was my only friend for a good part of my first year. It didn't feel right getting someone new, but it is time. I have called him Pewter, and he is currently curled up on my bed._

_You will need to contact Papa in order to make plans for our first date. I am able to leave the Academy on weekends, and am guessing that one of my brothers will act as chaperone. I am unsure of what to tell you about myself, as I don't know what you already know. Perhaps it would be easier for you to ask questions, and I will answer them. _

_I look forward to receiving your next letter._

_Lio_

Draco folded the letter with a grin. He was glad that Lio had liked everything he had sent. Although the letter wasn't all that personal, he had learnt quite a bit about the man he was courting. The letter also raised some questions. Not for the first time, did Draco wonder why Lio hadn't attended Hogwarts. He also wondered at his self perception. It was one thing to be humble. Some might even say it was a good thing, but Lio seemed to have no idea how special he was. That was something Draco would not allow to continue for long. People who didn't realise they were extraordinary were often taken advantage of.

He did have to smile at what he had written about not being a Slytherin because he wasn't ambitious. The average Hogwarts seventh year only took five or six classes, and Lio was taking twelve? If that wasn't ambitious, Draco didn't want to know what was. Besides there were many different types of snakes, and from everything he had learnt, he could see Lio quite happily settling in, in the dungeons.


	7. The First Date

AN: Thank you for the reviews. This chapter is shorter than the past two were. There will be a longer AN at the end of this chapter. I don't want to reveal anything before you all read the story.

Chapter 6: The first date.

Although it was traditional to only wait two weeks between the end of the gifting and the first date, Dumbledore was being difficult. He had refused to allow Draco to leave campus unless it was a Hogsmeade weekend, so it was the middle of October before they were able to meet. Dumbledore had also insisted that Draco not leave Britain. This frustrated Draco to no end, for he didn't want to inconvenience the Zabinis, but Lio assured him that they understood, and didn't blame them.

This is not to say that the six weeks were unproductive. Both Draco and Lio had kept their owls fairly busy with letters back and forth. The first couple had been slightly awkward, but now they flowed, and both boys felt that they were getting to know each other fairly well.

However today was the day. He was going to meet with Lio, and his brother Mario. He had learnt that Lio quite enjoyed being outdoors, and so arranged a day in Snowdonia. They would spend time exploring some of the many castles in the area, take a hike among the hill, have some lunch, and just spend time talking.

The date was going quite well. At first Draco had worried that having a chaperone around would make things weird, but Mario was cool. He had stayed within earshot, but had given them some space. He had even offered to sit at the next table over when they stopped for lunch, but Draco said that there was no need for that. He understood that when it came to Italians you didn't just marry the individual, you married the entire family. He might as well start getting to know one of his (hopefully) future brothers.

They had spent lunch swapping stories. Lio had told of some of the pranks he and the twins had pulled as children. He also shared the story behind the name Lio. Since there aren't any Italian names that start with the letter H, his name made him stick out. His friends had decided to rename him, but couldn't agree on a name. Luca had proposed Giulio, meaning July in Roman Latin in honour for the month of his birth. Toni refused to entertain the idea of him having a ROMAN name when he obviously was TUSCAN. He thought he should be called Celio in honour of the Tuscan saint. He also thought the name fit because the name means heaven, and if anyone deserved heaven Harry did. Francesca had rolled her eyes at both boys and said that he should be named Emilio, for depending on who you asked it could mean rival, which was similar to what his original name meant, or kind and graceful, which fit who Harry was. The disagreement had the potential to become a big argument, so he had declared that he would go by Lio in order to keep everyone happy.

Draco had laughed at the story, and commented that apparently the meaning of Lio is peace keeper. He had then shared stories of him and Blaise getting into mischief as children, including the time they were nine and had accidentally spelled all the books at Malfoy Manor blank. Thankfully the spell wore off a couple of days later, but his father had not been happy.

Even Mario shared a few stories. He and Krum played for the same team, and were good friends. He blushed slightly when Lio teasingly commented that it was also very nice when your good friend has a younger sister. Draco had to bite back a laugh when Lio asked if Mario was close to gathering enough courage to talk to her father.

Yes the entire date was light hearted and fun, save for one serious conversation towards the end of the date. It had been started when Draco asked a seemingly innocent question.

"So what is your favourite day of the week?"

"Sunday."

"Really? Why Sunday?"

"Well I get to relax and go to Mass."

"Mass? You're Catholic?" Draco asked in disbelief.

Lio chuckled. "Of course I am Catholic, most Italians are."

"Well yes, I know that the Catholic church had a huge influence on Italian culture, but do you actually believe all that stuff? Isn't that a little hypocritical?"

"Yes I do believe all that stuff. Why would that make me a hypocrite?" Lio asked with a smile. Draco's reaction didn't offend him, he had heard it before after all.

"Well you are a wizard, and the Bible says that witches shouldn't be allowed to live."

"Draco let me ask you something. Have you ever read the Bible, or are you just repeating something that someone told you?"

"No I haven't read it, my parents told me about it. Surely you aren't implying that my parents lied to me?"

"No I am not implying that your parents would intentionally lie to you. Have they ever read the Bible? Anyway my point was that you don't know what the Bible says, you only know what you've been told it says. Now yes there is a verse that says suffer not a witch to live, but it is very dangerous to pull a single verse out of context. You have to look at what the verse means, not just what it says. A close look at the verse shows that they aren't talking about a person who is born with the ability to perform magic. It is talking about a person who has used evil means to obtain power. Someone who has made a deal with the devil if you will. This could apply to a muggle or a wizard."

Draco's forehead wrinkled in thought. "If this is true then why have so many witches and wizards been persecuted by Christians?"

Lio sighed softly. "You have to remember Draco, that up until very recently most muggles were very poorly educated. Most couldn't read or write, especially Latin, which was the only language you could get the Bible in. In addition to this, books were extremely expensive. This lead to the situation where the common man was completely dependant on his local priest for instruction. If that priest wasn't trained or educated properly, the message could become extremely skewed. The translation of the Bible into English in many way made the situation worse. Although I am sure that those who originally made the translations had the noblest of intentions, they made the mistake of not going back to the original Hebrew, Armenian, and Greek. Instead, they translated the Latin, and making a translation of a translation is always a bad idea."

Draco thought about this information for awhile. "So is the ban on homosexuality a mistranslation as well?" He finally asked.

"Not completely. For that you have to understand why the church banned homosexuality in the first place. The church believes that the major reason for marriage is procreation. Since without the pregnancy potion, two wizard can't have children, there was no reason for them to get married. As the church frowns on sex outside of marriage, homosexuality was forbidden. Since the invention of the pregnancy potion, the wizarding Catholic church has accepted homosexuality." Seeing Draco's frown, he sighed. "I know that we are going to have a difference of opinion on this, but we don't have to settle this today. All I ask is that you keep an open mind," he finished with a smile. "So what is your favourite day?"

Draco smiled in relief, glad that the conversation was moving away from the serious issues. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about something that obviously meant a great deal to Lio, but he felt way out of his depth. He knew they would be having this conversation again, but hopefully that would be after he had had a chance to research some. "My favourite day would have to be Wednesday. At least this year it is. I have both of my favourite classes, Potions and Charms. Then I have Quidditch practice, which means I get to spend a couple of hours in the air, and then my godfather and I have dinner together."

Lio smiled at the mention of the wizard. He was glad that Draco was able to have such a close relationship with the man. For a moment his thoughts drifted to Remus. He wondered where the man was now, and hoped he was happy wherever he was.

The rest of the date went quickly, and before Draco really wanted to, it was time for him to portkey back to Hogwarts. It was when he was saying goodbye that he fully realised how much the courtship rules sucked. He had had a great time, and he really wanted to kiss him goodnight. Hell, at this point he would settle for a hug! But all that was forbidden, he would have to be content with a handshake. He held the smaller hand between both of his and squeezed gently. "I had a wonderful time. I wish I didn't have to end this so soon, but Dumbledore is determined to make things difficult."

The brunette smile softly. "I too had a great time. Thank you. I wish we could see each other more, but I guess we'll just have to keep Hera and Apollo busy."

"That we will. You and Mario will be fine getting back?" He asked, putting off saying goodbye.

"Yes, and you're stalling."

Draco grinned. "Yes I am."

Lio chuckled softly. "Well go on. You don't want to get a detention."

The blonde sighed softly, and gave the small hand a final squeeze. "Goodnight Lio."

"Goodnight Draco."

With a nod to Mario, Draco took a step back, and activated his portkey.

**********************************

Several mornings later Blaise sat down across his friend for breakfast. "Good morning Draco." Getting no reply he looked up. The blonde's full attention was on the book in front of him. "What are you reading?"

"The Bible." Both of Blaise's eyebrows rose in shock. He knew he was going to regret asking, but he just had to know. "Why are you reading that?"

"Your cousin is a devout Catholic."

"How in the world can he believe that? What about killing witches?"

"Ask Lio next time you see him. He can explain it much better than I could, but he is quite convincing," Draco answered without looking up.

Blaise glanced at the book. "Oookaay, but why are you reading it in Latin?"

"Because I don't know Greek?"

Blaise groaned. Why couldn't his friend ever answer a question fully? "You know I am pretty sure you can get one in English," he commented sarcastically.

Draco sighed before looking up. "Yes I know that Blaise, but the English language is very limiting. Besides Latin is the official language of the church."

"Are you actually considering converting?"

Draco rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I don't know Blaise. It is obviously very important to him, and he is important to me. I mean the idea of an all knowing personal seems rather far fetched to me, but what am I suppose to do? I guess at the very least I can try to understand it. Besides, I've already agreed to be chaste for two years, how bad can the rest of it be?"

Blaise chuckled. "Don't ask me. My mum's the black sheep of the family. I think the only thing she kept from her upbringing is the Zabini infidelity curse."

"What is that?"

"Anyone who marries a Zabini daughter or submissive vows to be faithful. If they break their vow then all children become Zabinis, and they forfeit everything they own. That is why I am a Zabini, even though my parents were married."

AN: First of all I am not Catholic, so if I have made any major mistakes, please forgive me. I did research a little, but obviously am no expert. Next, this fiction will not be a religious story. There will be hints of it now and then simply because Lio's personality has been influenced by it. There will be things that Draco and Lio need to work out because of it, but Lio is not going to insist on Draco converting, nor will there be a conversion moment. Thank you for reading and please review. ~Ryz


	8. The Differences Between Cultures

AN: First thank you all for your reviews. Next I hope you enjoy this chapter. It will be awhile before I am able to update again. I am going to the US for six weeks and won't have access to my account. I do hope to have the story completely written out by the time I get back. Please review and enjoy your summer. ~Ryz

Chapter 7

It was a couple weeks after the date, and Francesca was having breakfast with Lio. Ever since their friendship started, they had had breakfast on Saturday alone together. Luca and Toni weren't morning people to say the least. The earliest they would see them would be lunch. They were discussing Lio's warding class when Hera flew in. Francesca hid a smile as her friend stopped, mid sentence, to take the letter and read it. She knew that some people might think it rude to read a letter in front of someone, but she just thought it was cute. Lio was a private person, and hadn't shared a lot of details from his date.

Indeed, almost all the information she was privy to, had come from Toni. Apparently, Mario had been slightly impressed by Draco. He had been happy to see Draco so respectful of Lio's religious beliefs. While true that most Italians were Catholic, Lio was more devout than most, and it is well known fact that most Brits are little more than heathens. She had laughed when she had heard the report. The Zabinis might not want to admit the fact, but she could tell that her friend was starting to fall for the Brit. The proof of this was the fact that almost all of Lio's current artwork had taken a decisive Draco theme. So much so, that to Lio's embarrassment, and his friends' amusement, his craftsmanship professor told him that he was no longer allowed to turn in anymore work featuring the wizard.

She could hardly wait to meet him at Christmas. She could vaguely remember him from the ball, but hadn't really paid him any attention. When she had found out what had happened, she, like everyone else, had been furious. Lio was a bit of a society sweetheart, and when the news spread of what was being done to him…well, let's just say the aristocrats weren't happy. Now that she could see that Lio seemed to be accepting the idea, she almost felt sorry for the Malfoy scion. Oh, no one would do anything to physically harm him, probably, but he would certainly have a cold reception for awhile. At least until they were convinced that he was Lio's choice.

She sipped her espresso while she waited for him to finish. She couldn't blame him for being excited about the letter. She had thought the courtship period had been hard, and she and Toni went to the same school. They might not have been allowed to spend time together alone, but at least they could see each other everyday. She couldn't imagine what it would be like having him a thousand miles away.

As the weeks went by, the owls bridged the thousand mile gap many times. At times Draco was amazed at all the things they discussed. Sure they often talked about what was going on in their lives, school and friends, but their letters also had deeper moments. Not just religion, something Draco still wasn't sure about, but other important things as well. They talked about children. Draco was shocked when he learned that Lio agreed with the church's stance on birth control. Apparently, the raven haired wizard had always wanted a large family. Draco also wanted a large family, but he was thinking more like five, not twenty!

They talked about the differences in the two cultures, and what they liked and disliked about them. In fact, it was one of those letters that was now driving Draco to the library. He had mentioned in his previous letter, that it frustrated him that the muggleborns in the United Kingdom refused to adapt to wizarding culture. Lio had replied that if the muggleborns were having problems integrating into wizarding society, it was the purebloods that were to blame.

He stepped through the doors, and searched the room for a certain Ravenclaw. Stopping in front of a book covered table, he cleared his throat and waited for her to lift her bushy brown haired head. "You're Granger, right?" he asked when she did.

"Yes, what do you need help in?"

"Excuse me? What do you mean?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Just that almost no one talks to me unless they need help in one of their classes."

"Oh. Well, no I don't need any help with my classes."

"Then what do you need?"

"You're muggleborn right?"

"Yes," she answered warily.

"Great! I don't know if you know, but I am currently courting Harry Potter."

"Yes I know, although why you would want to be aligned with that family is beyond me."

"Not a fan of boy wonder I see."

"Neville Longbottom is a good friend."

"Ah," he said. She didn't have to say anything else. It was well known what had happened to the boy. Potter and his gang had certainly crowed enough, not only about his success at driving the boy from Gryfindor, but the fact that the teachers did nothing to stop it. "Well, Lio is nothing like his family, and has nothing to do with them anymore. I know that the Potters are spreading the story that we are forcing him into marriage, and that I plan on raping a straight man, but that isn't true. Lio does have a choice, and he is gay."

Hermione's expression turned thoughtful. "Why do you call him Lio?"

Draco smiled. "It is his nickname. Harry isn't an Italian name, so his friends renamed him. Plus I don't think he really likes the name Harry anyway. It means army ruler, and he is a pacifist."

Hermione returned his smile, and motioned for him to sit. "So, why did you want to know if I was a muggleborn?"

"Lio and I were discussing differences in our culture. I mentioned that here muggleborns have a hard time accepting wizarding culture, and that most reject it. He told me how muggleborns are treated in Italy, and that if muggleborns here aren't integrating, it is the wizards who are to blame. I have to admit, I know almost nothing when it comes to how muggleborns are introduced to the wizarding world, so I thought I would ask. Is he right? What help were you given in order to adapt to being a witch?"

"None."

"None? None at all? Not even when you first found out? When did you find out you're a witch anyway?" he asked, surprise colouring his voice.

"I first found out when Professor Flitwick showed up on our doorstep with my Hogwarts letter. He spent forty-five minutes with my parents and me. He did a couple of charms to prove magic was real, gave me my school and book lists, as well as a pamphlet that explained how to get to Diagon Alley and Platform 9 and ¾. Informed us about the Muggle Secrecy Act and that is about it. As he was leaving he told me that if I wanted to know more about Hogwarts, I could read Hogwarts: A History."

Draco was having a hard time believing what he was hearing. Surely they weren't doing as horrible a job as this? "But what about when you got here? Wasn't there anyone available to explain things, or answer any questions?"

Hermione smiled to herself. Malfoy truly seemed shocked at her answers. "Malfoy, the only house where it is acceptable to be Muggleborn is Gryfindor. Asking questions about wizarding culture is a sure way to draw attention to yourself. Muggleborns in the other houses quickly learn, that that is not something you want to do."

Draco groaned and rubbed a hand across his eyes. "Merlin, he is right! No wonder we are in such a mess."

"I take it things are different in Italy?"

"That would be an understatement. You know how many of the old families have titles?" He asked. At her nod, he continued. "Well here in the UK they don't mean a whole lot, but in Italy there are responsibilities that go with their titles. The main one, is that they have to keep track of all magical people in their area. All babies are tested to see if they have a magical core. Obviously not _all_ babies who are born with a magical core will become magical, so they watch them. When it becomes clear that the core is healthy, and filling, in a baby born to non magical parents, the family is approached. This normally happens around the age of three. The parents are told about the wizarding world, taught what to expect, introduced to magical families and the child is encouraged to play with other magical children. They also watch out for signs of rejection, and intervene if necessary. The end result is that there is no difference between a pureblood child and a muggleborn."

Hermione's eyes widened at this information. She couldn't help thinking how different her life would be if she had been born in Italy. As it was, she was hardly accepted in the wizarding world. In fact, if it wasn't for Neville, she probably would have left the magical world already. She still wasn't sure what she would do after Hogwarts. Although she knew it would be difficult to go back to the muggle world, there weren't a whole lot of options for a muggleborn. Even if the war ended soon, that wasn't likely to change much. She had always thought that all wizarding communities were the same, but obviously not. Perhaps she and Neville could travel a bit after finishing their education. There wasn't anything here keeping them.

The weeks went by quickly. Whenever Malfoy saw her in the library he greeted her, but they never had a conversation. Truth be told she didn't expect that to change. He was polite enough, and had never directly looked down on her, but she knew perfectly well that they were from very different circles. Although he would never know it, she felt indebted to him. After their conversation, she and Neville had talked, and decided to travel after Hogwarts. For the first time since the incident, he was excited about something other than his plants. She was grateful for that conversation, even if she believed it would never be repeated. She was wrong. Three days before winter break was to start, she looked up from her studies to see the blonde in front of her again.

"Hey Granger. I know that you probably know this library better than anyone here, so I was wondering, does Hogwarts have a book on Catholic liturgy?"

Hermione blinked a couple of times in surprise. Of all the things he could have asked about, that was definitely the last thing she expected. "Why in the world would you want to know about Catholic liturgy?"

He sighed softly. "Lio is a devout Catholic. It just dawned on me that that means we will be attending Mass for Christmas. I would like to know what is going to happen so I don't look like a complete idiot."

"How can he be Catholic when the church believes that all witches and wizards are evil?" she asked bitterly.

Draco looked at her in surprise. "The Catholic church doesn't believe that genetically magical people are evil. There have even been some Popes who were wizards."

Hermione knew that she was gaping at him, but she couldn't bring herself to care. _He can't be right, he just can't be! I haven't been abandoned for nothing have I?_ As her mind swirled with these thoughts, the blonde across the table grew more and more concerned. If she had noticed, she would have been stunned at his regard. She had always heard, and believed, him to be rather arrogant. Not someone who would worry about one of the so called "little people". What she and the rest of British wizarding society hadn't realised yet, Draco was changing. Slowly enough that even he didn't know it yet.

"Granger!" His voice finally breaking through her musings. "Are you alright?"

She looked into grey eyes that held just a hint of worry. "Y..Yes," she stammered. "And to answer your question, no there isn't a book here about Catholic liturgy. However I can tell you whatever you need to know."

"You can? How?"

"I used to be Catholic."

"Used to be?"

Hermione nodded. "My parents weren't very religious. They only went to Mass on Christmas, and then only if pestered into it. My Aunt was though, and she took me every Saturday night. My parents didn't care as it let them have some time to themselves. After I came to Hogwarts, things started to change. Confusion about me being a witch and what that meant, drove my parents to church. They finally confided to the priest that I am a witch. HE told them that I was possessed and needed help. The summer following my second year I was told I either had to submit to an exoticism or be excommunicated. I couldn't just reject being a witch. Ignoring my powers wouldn't make them go away. My parents told me that I was no longer welcomed in their home. Apparently my mother was pregnant. They thought that my evilness would harm the baby."

"So you are a ward of the Ministry?" Draco asked in horror. He knew how wards were treated.

"Thankfully no. My parents refused to sign me over to the people they believed infected me with their evilness. I inherited enough money from my grandparents to cover my education and needs. For the past few summers I have gone home with Neville." At his expression, her back straightened. "Don't pity me Malfoy, I am fine. Now what did you need to know?"

Draco paused for just another moment to study her before launching into his questions.


	9. Being Defeated by a Two Year Old

AN: Well I am back and have got the two year old switched back to this time zone. Thank you all for your reviews. As I had over seven hundred emails in my inbox I won't be responding to them individually, but it was great hearing from everyone.

Chapter 8: Being Defeated by a Two Year Old.

Blaise looked up from the book he was reading as Draco walked into his room. Before he had a chance to say anything, the blonde fell face forward onto the bed with a groan. They had been in Florence two days, and Draco had had his first test today. "So, how did it go?"

Draco groaned again before flipping over. "I think I failed," he whispered.

Blaise's eyes widened at this information. "Are you sure? Did my Uncle say that?"

"No, I am to go talk to him and your cousins tomorrow, but it was awful Blaise!"

"What was the test?"

"Juliet."

"Excuse me?" The dark Slytherin asked.

"When your Uncle told me that my test was to prove I could take care of a future family, I thought he meant I was going to have to show I could provide for them or defend them or something. I was wrong. I just spent the day baby sitting a two year child."

~Earlier that Day~

Draco anxiously rung the bell a few minutes before ten. As it wouldn't be appropriate for him to stay in the same house as Lio, he and Blaise were staying at Mario's flat during their visit. He wondered if he would see Lio today. Even though they had arrived early afternoon yesterday, he hadn't been able to speak more than five words to the brunette. He hadn't even been able to sit near him at dinner. Although he had enjoyed getting to know Leonardo, another one of the numerous brothers, he hadn't talked to Lio for over a month. Logically he knew that there were rules and traditions to follow, but for Merlin's sake! Most of the wizards in Lio's family were married. Didn't they remember what it was like?!

He pulled himself from his thoughts and straightened quickly as the door opened, by Giuseppe Zabini himself.

"Good morning Mr. Malfoy. You are right on time."

"Good morning Signore Zabini."

"Please follow me," the noble man instructed.

Draco was starting to wonder where their destination was. They had climbed two sets of stairs and walked down several long hallways. Giuseppe finally opened a door and they entered. Draco looked around and realised they were in a feminine nursery. There were toys and books on one side of the room and on the other a small table. Lio was sitting on the floor playing with a small girl. A young woman was also in the room.

Lio looked up and smiled. "Good morning Draco. I'd like to introduce my sister Isobella and her daughter Juliet."

"Good morning Lio," Draco replied. Before he got lost in the emerald orbs he turned to Isobella. "It is nice to meet you and your daughter."

"As you were told your test is to prove you can take care of a family. In order to show this, you will be taking care of Juliet today," Giuseppe informed him, biting back a smile at seeing Draco pale at the news. He was well aware of his inexperience with children.

Isobella felt a bit of sympathy for the young wizard. Her father had made her Swiss husband do the same thing. He too had had little experience with children. "We will stay for a little while to let you and Juliet get to know each other. Now she eats lunch at half eleven, and goes down for a nap at one for about two hours. She can have a snack when she wakes up, and has dinner at half five. She needs to take a bath before she goes to bed at seven. Lio and I will show you where everything is." She said standing up. Lio picked the small girl up and they walked through a side door. Inside was a smaller room with a small bed, a low chest of drawers, and a rocking chair. Isobella moved to the chest of drawers. "Now there are wipes and fresh nappies here in the top drawer. Her night clothes are in the left hand drawer."

_Nappies?!_ Draco thought with panic. He had never changed a nappy in his life. They showed him the bathroom, and then went back to the main room. Giuseppe had already left.

"Juliet's accidental magic started to really show itself around her second birthday last month, so don't be surprised if something happens," Isobella warned him. She then turned to her daughter. "Juliet this is Tio Lio's friend Draco. Would you like to colour with him?"

Black eyes studied him for a moment before she nodded. They settled at the table, and Lio pulled out some paper and waxy, coloured sticks. "They're a muggle thing. They are called crayons," Lio informed him.

They stayed for about fifteen minutes, but before Draco knew it, he was alone with the two year old. At first things went really well. They continued to colour for awhile, and then settled onto the floor to play with some of her soft toys. Draco was just starting to really relax and think that maybe this wasn't so bad when the day's first hurdle hit. They were in the middle of a pretend tea party, when Juliet suddenly jumped up and ran to stand underneath the table. He was about to ask what she was doing, when she bent over and began to grunt. _Lovely!_ he thought sarcastically, when it dawned on him what she was doing. After a few minutes, she straightened back up and back over to him.

"Yuck," she informed him.

Draco's nose wrinkled as he caught a whiff of her. "Yuck indeed," he agreed. He sighed softly. There really wasn't anyway to avoid this, so he might as well get it over with. "Come on let's go get you cleaned up."

After placing her on the changing table and getting off her tights, he studied the nappy she had on and a clean one. "Alright so the nabs go on the front." He carefully opened it and then quickly turned his head as his gag reflex kicked in. _Merlin this is disgusting! How can someone so small create something so vile?_ He grabbed a couple of wipes and began to clean her up. He briefly wished that it was safe to use cleaning charms on skin. By the time he was finished Juliet was getting restless and he had used about thirty wipes. He successfully got the nappy on her, but struggled getting her tights back on. After fighting with the wiggling toddlers for five minutes he gave up. She would be fine without them. Thankfully by the time they had finished washing their hands it was time for lunch.

As he was placing her in her chair, a ham pizza and salad appeared. There was juice for Juliet and a light red wine for him. Draco was glad that it was the house elves that were providing the food. If it had been up to him, they would have been eating buttered bread. During lunch Juliet showed that she had warmed up to Draco enough to talk. The chatter was almost non-stop. Unfortunately, Draco wasn't very good at understanding Italian baby talk, so he was only able to catch a couple of words. Following lunch, Draco faced the next frustration. When she was full, Juliet climbed out of her chair and into Draco's lap. She then nuzzled her face into his chest. This would have been sweet, except for the fact that his favourite shirt now had grape juice and tomato sauce smeared over it. As he looked at the now ruined shirt, he swallowed a groan. The grape juice wasn't the problem, but even with magic the elves wouldn't be able to get tomato sauce out of the silk blend shirt. Noting the time, he sighed in relief. It was time for her nap. He gently washed her face and then tried to settle her into her bed. Her bottom lip began to stick out and quiver.

"Per favore Dwaco non vanno! Non vanno! Non mi stanco. (Please Draco don't go! Don't go! I am not tired.)

Draco looked at the little girl indecisively. She was suppose to take a nap, and he could really use the break, but she looked so sad. It was a final non vanno, with eyes full of tears that broke him. He picked her back up and rubbed her back. "Shhh don't cry. It is okay," he said trying to soothe her. _Oh well_ he thought. He supposed it wasn't that big of a deal for her to miss a nap.

An hour later he was quickly learning exactly how big of a deal it really was. Gone was the sweet little girl from the morning. Instead, he now had an over tired, cranky child who refused to be comforted. He was trying everything he could think of, but nothing was worked. Her mood continued to get worse and worse until snack time. Then it happened. Major melt down. Juliet had taken one look at the fruit the house elves had provided and scowled.

"Biscotti," she demanded, pushing the bowl of fruit away.

"No Juliet. Please eat your fruit. It is very good for you," he answered, placing the bowl back in front of her. Once again her bottom lip began to quiver. Draco shook his head. He was not going to fall for that again. "No Juliet. You can't have a biscotti," he said firmly. There was a moment of silence at his declaration and then… "VOGLIO UN BISCOTTI!" (I want a cookie!) she screamed in full temper.

Draco watched in shock as she shrieked and pounded the table with little fists. Suddenly the bowl shot out and hit him in the chest. He looked down at the mess, and sighed before banishing it with the wave of his wand. He couldn't really be upset with her for hitting him with the fruit. Bursts of accidental magic were to be expected when young children were tired or emotional. It was his fault that she was both. He looked up at the now silent child. "Well I guess snack time is over," he said standing up. As he was picking her up, she gave a final display of temper and bit him on the arm. He instantly dropped her back into her seat. "No Juliet! Biting people is very naughty. There will be no pudding tonight." At this announcement, her little frame began to shake with sobs. Draco gently picked her up and cuddled her. Eventually she stopped weeping, but she spent the rest of the afternoon snuggled in his arms.

Unlike lunch, which was filled with childish chatter, dinner was silent. Juliet was fading fast. After she yawned for the fifth time, Draco decided to end dinner before she fell asleep in her risotto. Carrying her into her bathroom, he quickly filled the tub with warm water, removed her clothes, and took off his outer shirt. He knew this was going to be a quick bath. As he carefully washed her hair and soaped the flannel, he noticed that her eyes were already at half mast. It was a relief to know the day was almost over. He never realised that children were so draining. Once he was done, he emptied the tub and lifted the slippery child out. He quickly dried her off and wrapped her in a soft, fluffy towel. Picking the exhausted child up, he took a couple of steps towards the bedroom when he felt his front become warm and wet. Draco groaned. Obviously the warm water had relaxed Juliet too much. Setting her back down he pulled off his under-shirt and changed the sodden towel with a fresh one. He quickly got her to the changing table and a clean nappy on her. After slipping a nightgown on her, he walked over to her bed to lay her down. He had thought this would be easy. She was practically asleep as it was. He was wrong. As soon as he tried to pull away, she clung to him and started to whimper.

Draco sighed in frustration. _Why won't she go to sleep?_ "Oh alright. I will tell you one story and then you will go to sleep." He picked her up and sat down in the rocking chair. He thought for a moment, trying to remember one of the stories he was told as a child. "Once upon a time, there was a kind witch named Gertrude. She made a living by selling the healing herbs that she grew in her beautiful garden. Although kind and gentle, Gertrude was very lonely, for she was the only witch in the small village where she lived. Now in the village also lived a mean man and his greedy wife. They were very rich and had everything they could want, except for a child. Eventually with the help of Gertrude's herbs, the woman became pregnant. The greedy woman liked Gertrude's herbs so much that she demanded that she have them, but refused to pay. Gertrude refused to give them to her. That night Gertrude awoke to fine the mean man stealing from her garden. Angered she began to curse the man, but he begged for her to take the life of his unborn child in exchange for his. Realising that the child wouldn't be loved by either the man or his wife she agreed. Four months later she went to collect her newborn daughter. Seeing the fair heading infant she….."

A half an hour later he was awakened by a smiling Lio and Isobella. He couldn't believe he had fallen asleep. The place was a mess and he was half dressed! Isobella carefully took her sleeping daughter and laid her in the bed. Draco stood and put on the clean shirt that Lio handed him. Walking into the main room, he saw Giuseppe. The dark wizard was standing there and looking around the room. Draco barely managed to stop himself from wincing. He had planned on getting the room cleaned up after Juliet was in bed, but since he had fallen asleep, the room was in chaos. He started to pick up some of the toys, but was told not to bother. That the house elves would take care of it. It was a silent walk, as Giuseppe escorted him to the floo room. Just before he left, Giuseppe told him to come back at eleven to discuss the results.

~Present time~

Blaise's shoulders were shaking as he tried to contain his laughter. Somehow he would need to convince his Uncle to let him watch the surveillance charms. As far as he knew Draco hadn't been around a two year old since he himself was two.

Draco looked at his friend in disbelief. He knew his friend wasn't mean spirited, how could he find his failure funny? "How can you laugh at me? I have lost him. You know Lio would never go against your Uncle. I know that I said that I loved him when this whole thing started, but I was wrong. I didn't know him well enough to love him. But I know and love him now. He isn't perfect, but he is perfect for me. How am I suppose to live without him? What am I suppose to do?"

Blaise's amusement was quickly doused by seeing his friend's genuine distress. "Draco, relax. My friend I assure you, you didn't fail. I know my Uncle, if you had you would already be on your way back to England."

"Really?" Draco asked hopefully. "Than why didn't he talk to me tonight?"

At this question Blaise allowed himself to chuckle a little. "What would have been the point? Draco, you are clearly exhausted and in no shape to handle a long conversation. For Merlin's sake, you fell asleep in a rocking chair before eight o'clock."

As it turned out, Blaise was right. The first fifteen minutes were slightly tense as they informed him what they thought he did and didn't do well on. Over all they thought he did a better job than he thought he had. Marcus had even told him that he was impressed that he never lost his temper, even when she bit him. True, he had caved the first time she had pouted, but he had learnt from his mistake and hadn't repeated it.

Laughter rung through the room when Draco asked when she learnt how to do that. Claudius informed with a wry smile that as far as he knew all little girls were born with that knowledge. Draco felt a little worry spread through him. Although there hadn't been a female Malfoy born for several generations, he knew with Lio's views he was guaranteed at least a couple of daughters. All Malfoys were Slytherins. If all little girls were naturally manipulative, a Malfoy little girl would be doubly so. He was doomed! Trying to keep a steady voice he asked if sons were easier. Once again he question was greeted with laughter. Before they all headed to lunch Giuseppe told Draco that he had passed the test. Not because of anything he had done or not done, but because of his willingness to try and learn.


	10. Another Day, Another Family

AN: Okay I know that it has been forever and a day since I have updated. Real life has been insane and I had a hard time with this chapter. I have written this chapter so many times in an attempt to make it seem less like a filler chapter. I finally realised that I would never be happy with it and decided to just post it and move on. Anyway I have a question to ask my readers at the end of this chapter so please read the AN at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 9: Another Day, Another Family

The next day, Draco and Lio had their second date. Once again Draco was nervous. Not because he was afraid that Lio wouldn't like what he had planned, but because of the chaperone. Draco was used to the idea of not being allowed to be alone with Lio, but he had been hoping that his watcher would be Mario again. However Mario had finally drummed up his courage and had spoken to Bisera Krum's father, so he was in Bulgaria for the day. Instead, their chaperone had been Lio's brother Pablo, the priest. Although he was open to the whole Catholic thing, he wasn't all that happy at having to spend the day with a priest!

It turned out all right though. Sure Pablo might be more serious than Mario, but he wasn't overbearing either. He didn't even dress like a priest, and Draco was soon able to relax around him. In fact except for the obvious lack of a playboy attitude he reminded Draco of Blaise.

For their date Draco had wanted for them to take a class together, but with it only being two days before Christmas there hadn't been a whole lot available. He had finally expanded his search to the Muggle world, where he had found something intriguing, lampworking. Glass and crystal was rarely used in the wizarding world. Oh sure they used glass for their windows and mirrors, but goblets and vases were still made out of gold or silver. In fact the only crystal sculptures or goblets available were those made by the high elves, and were hideously expensive.

They started their day with a tour of the Murano glass factory, which was followed by a class on the techniques of lampworking. Normally there wouldn't have been a practical part to the class, but as with most things in life if you throw enough money around you can get just about anything you want.

Lio had found the class fascinating. Glass was a material he had never used before, and he was excited to work with it. Draco had been glad that Lio had enjoyed the class, but had also been amazed at how quickly Lio had learned the art. By the end of the class Lio had made a colourful vase that had even impressed their instructor. Pablo had taken a clear plate and placed thin strips of blue and green glass over it.

Draco had enjoyed the class as well, but his project just proved that he would never be an artist, no matter what the material. He had ended up with a lump of coloured glass that the instructor had kindly labelled a paperweight. Draco laughed off his lack of success and had suggested an early dinner.

They casually window shopped as they walked the Venetian streets. At Draco's request they went into one of the stores, where he purchased a feminine looking crucifix. At Lio's questioning look he explained. "It is for Hermione Granger, the witch I told you about. I found out last week that she used to be Catholic."

"Used to be?" Lio repeated.

"Yes. Actually that was something I wanted to ask you about. When her muggle priest found out that she was a witch he had her excommunicated. He told her parents that she was evil and dangerous, which lead her parents to reject her when she was thirteen. How could this have happened? Aren't muggle priests told of the wizarding world?"

Lio looked horrified at the news. He exchanged a look with Pablo, who was frowning. "They are informed of the wizarding world. This shouldn't have happened."  
Pablo spoke up. "I will need to inform my superiors of this situation so they can look into it. Can you supply me with her contact information?" At Draco's nod the conversation moved on.

Just like their first date, dinner was light and enjoyable. Even with all of their letters they had plenty of things to talk about and the conversation flowed easily. However, as much as Draco was enjoying the date, he wished he and Lio were allowed at least a little time alone. He understood that the courtship period was about his proving his worth to the Zabinis, but knowing that everything you say and do is being judged made it rather hard to fully relax. He was looking forward to boxing day, when Lio and some of his family would be coming to Malfoy manor to meet his family and friends.

* * *

Draco watched as Lio carried on an in-depth conversation with his godfather. At first Severus had been reluctant to warm up to the raven haired teen. It had been hard for him to look past the fact that the wizard's last name was Potter. He had finally started to thaw towards Lio when the conversation turned to Potions. Especially when he learned that Lio had read his paper on the proper use of poisons in healing.

Draco had to hide several smile throughout the day as he had watched Lio unknowingly charm everyone he met. His mother was a pushover. Anyone who would make Draco happy and promise future grandchildren were good in her eyes. His father had already been impressed by what he had learned of Lio, but Draco could see that he now understood why his son was so willing to jump through so many hoops for the young wizard.

His friends had been more than willing to accept Lio. They were curious about the wizard who was able to tame their playboy friend. The fact that he was Blaise's cousin made up for the fact that he was a Potter. However even their desire to see Draco happy couldn't explain their reaction.

Like Draco they all came from families that were traditionally Slytherin. They had been taught Slytherin values from the cradle. As a rule they were cautious of new people. Draco was astounded to see his friends easily open up to Lio. There just seemed something about the brunet that encouraged people to trust him. It had taken less than a half an hour for all of his friends to drop their public masks.

Lio had had a conversation with Pansy about Italian fashions. At first she had been suspicious about his level of knowledge. Then Lio had laughingly explained that with four sisters and twenty three nieces it was a given that he would pick up some information.

Both Greg and Vince had dropped their dumb acts, and had intelligent discussions with Lio. Greg had talked about the different wizarding communities around the world; Vince about his favourite class, Creatures. That had been an interesting conversation to overhear as Lio was currently taking Animal Husbandry.

Even Theo, who never talked to people he just met, spoke with Lio. Although almost no one knew it, Theo drew. Within minutes of their introduction the two wizards were debating the merits of different artists and their techniques.

Seeing that Lio's attention was well on his godfather, he turned to Toni to ask him something that had been bothering him. "Toni, why exactly does your family hate the Potters?" he asked in a low voice.

"You mean besides the fact that they tried to arrange a marriage for him?" Toni asked back, arching a brow.

"Yes, obviously that action did nothing to endear them, but I get the feeling that the negative sentiments were formed long before that event."

Toni sighed softly. "Si, they did. Most of the reasons are personal and for Lio to tell you when he wants to, but I can tell you the start of it. How were you educated before Hogwarts?"

Draco blinked at the unexpected question. "Like most pure-bloods, I was taught at home by a tutor."

"Was it hard to adjust from that to learning in a classroom environment?"

Draco thought for a moment. "I suppose a little, although I was so excited to start I didn't really think about it."

"We used to have the same system in Italy. Then fifty years ago the directors noticed that many of the new students were having difficulties adjusting to formal education. It was decided to add two years of prep before normal classes. These two years exist to help ease the newbies into the system. While these classes are important, they have very little homework and are only taught Monday through Thursday. This was designed so that the students could go home and spend three days with their families."

Toni paused to let the implication settle in Draco's mind. He nodded when he saw the questioning horror appear in the grey eyes. "Yes Draco, for the first year every weekend, Lio was left behind with almost nothing to do. He was the only nine year old on campus, and he could barely speak Italian. Eventually, Mario took an interest in him and pushed me in his direction. We became friends and for the last few weekends I stayed behind with him."

Draco's heart clenched. He couldn't imagine how lonely the young Lio must have been. Honestly what were the Potters thinking?

"I know that many British wizards talk about putting family first, but in Italy it is a given. A man is judged by how he treats and raises his family. Duty to your family always comes first. Failure to do this is seen as the most dishonourable thing you could do. The Potters have failed many times."

Draco's eyes drifted over to Lio, still deep in conversation with Severus. "Not that I am complaining, but why didn't your father immediately reject my suit? After all my father's actions hardly impressed him, and it would have been the perfect revenge against the Potters."

"For one, my father doesn't believe in making a child pay for their father's sins. For another, Lio doesn't want revenge. It isn't in his personality. In any case, at least this way the Potters will suffer for two years, wondering if Lio will end up breaking the contract or not."

Draco sighed again. "I wish my father hadn't brought the whole betrothal agreement into it. Not only did it start everything off poorly, but I don't want the Potters thinking that Lio is trying to please them if he does agree to marry me."

Toni smirked slightly. "Oh don't worry. I am sure we can come up with some way to make sure they understand how things really are."

AN: Okay, having re-read this story I noticed that I have written Lio almost as a Gary Stu. In my mind he has flaws and faults, but as I am not great at writing angst, I have failed to write them in. Does it bother you as my reader that this has happened? I do plan on showing more of his failings, but do you want a more dramatic display? I guess my question is do you want a couple of angst scenes or are you okay with the fluffiness of the story? Please let me know in a review. Oh and don't worry, this won't delay the next update. The next chapter is already written in rough draft and I just need to perfect it. Thanks, Ryz


	11. New Friendships

AN: Thank you all for your reviews. I wanted to respond to all of them, but thought you would enjoy getting a new chapter sooner then later. I am grateful for everyone's help and opinions. I have had several questions about the size of Lio's family and have decided to put a family tree on my profile to help. I know that I have a lot of original characters (and you haven't met them all), and it can be confusing to keep them straight. I probably won't get another chapter out before the new year. I am part of Kamerreon's rare pair slash challenge. As that story needs to be posted by the new year, I have to focus on that right now. If I don't get another chapter then Happy Christmas everyone. ~Ryz

Chapter 10: New Friendships

"Sometimes I wish I was an owl."

Blaise blinked a couple of times. It was just too early in the morning for him to even try to understand that. "I hope you plan on explaining that statement."

"Hera's pregnant."

"Huh, I guess I just assumed that Lio would be the carrier, knowing what we do, but okay."

Draco gave his friend a dirty look. "I am not saying I want to get pregnant!"

Blaise sighed. Why did his friend have to be so cryptic? "Then what did you mean?"

"Apollo is the father."

Blaise looked at Draco for a second before almost falling off the bench laughing. "Lio's owl knocked up your owl?" he finally managed to choke out, tears streaming down his face.

"Ha, bloody, ha! Not only is the bloody bird getting more action than me, but now she is refusing to come home," he growled at his laughing friend.

Blaise managed to regain control and wiped his face. "Well, I guess Lio is now honour bound to marry you," he joked. "I always told you Zabinis were irresistible. Never thought it applied to our birds though!"

"Oh shut Blaise," Draco said before getting up to leave. If he was honest he had to admit that the situation was rather funny, and he was looking forward to seeing the owlets when they hatched, but it was terribly inconvenient. As it was, he and Lio were keeping the birds busy and now they were were down one. Hera was his familiar, he couldn't just replace her! Yes, the school had owls, but they tended to be old, fat, and lazy. A trip to Italy would probably kill the poor thing.

Before he reached the doors a voice stopped him. "Oh is your little birdy refusing to deliver post now? You do have the worst luck with pets don't you?" If the comments had ended there, Draco would have ignored them. They didn't.

"Oh I don't know Ron, I think he's upset because his toy isn't here to bugger him. Or does my brother spread his legs for you like a good little whore? It is all he is good for anyway," Edmund sneered, while Ron and Lavender snickered at his comments.

Draco snapped. This was why he hadn't wanted Lio to out himself.. Unfortunately, Lio was too good to simply allow the Potters to continue to slander Draco's name and had insisted. Turning quickly, he threw a punch and had the satisfaction of breaking the "golden" boy's nose. He was stopped from doing anything more by Vince and Greg. "Listen Potter, you and your pathetic friends can say whatever you want about me. Between the three of you there hasn't been an original thought for years. However, Lio is a thousand times the wizard you are, and if I ever hear you disrespect him again, you will die."

"Mr. Malfoy, you will report to my office immediately," the headmaster's voice rung out.

With a final glare at the boy still on the ground, he turned and followed his godfather to the spiral staircase.

"Please hand me your wand, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore ordered as soon as they entered his office.

"Why?" Draco asked, tightening his grasp on said wand.

"For violence against a student and threatening the life of the same student you are hereby expelled from..."

"Headmaster," Snape quickly interrupted. "By your own example, the most a student can receive for violence is a week's detention. Mr. Malfoy will serve his detention with me."

"And what of his death threat? That can not be over looked and is punishable with expulsion."

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Draco spoke up. "Under ministry law 347 it is my right to defend the honour of my betrothed. The law also clearly states that one way I may defend that honour is by challenging the offender to a duel to the death. I am a top ranked duellist and have shown my superiority over Potter many times. I was merely reminding Potter of the consequences his actions would produce."

"What of Voldemort Mr. Malfoy? Would you condemn the wizarding world just to sooth your pride?"

"Voldemort is your problem, not mine. Now if I may be excused I have Charms in fifteen minutes."

* * *

,

Later that night, Draco sent a letter to Lio to explain what had happened. He hoped he would understand, but Lio was such a pacifist that Draco knew he would be disappointed. He couldn't even apologise because he wasn't sorry he had punched the prat.

A couple of days later he received two letters from Italy. One from Lio and one from Signore Zabini. Draco paled when he saw the second letter and prayed that it didn't mean the courtship was being cancelled. He slowly broke the seal and opened it.

_ Dear Draco,_

_ First, I want you to take a deep breath and relax. I am not writing to cancel your courtship with my son. My nephew wrote to inform me what had happened, and I wanted to tell you well done. I know Lio would say that you should have ignored them, but he is a bearer and so it is in his nature to desire peace over all things. Indeed I think the only thing that could move him to violence would be a threat to his family._

_ When you add in the influence of his early childhood experiences, it leaves him vulnerable to being taken advantage of. As such he will need a mate who is determined to defend him. It was something you would have been tested on. As you have just proven yourself by this situation, that test is no longer needed._

_ Having said this, please do try not to kill the boy. He is annoying, and the world would probably be better off without him, but you will do my son no good if you are in prison._

_ We will see you next week. _

_ Sincerely,_

_ Giuseppe Zabini_

Draco sighed in relief. He then opened Lio's letter. It pretty much contained what he was expecting. That he should have just walked away. That by responding he just gave them what they wanted. Draco smiled as he finished the letter. Lio hadn't seemed all that upset, and hadn't even tried to convince him that he wasn't worth fighting for. Maybe his confidence in himself was finally starting to grow.

That afternoon Draco entered the library and walked over to Hermione's table. After greeting her, he sat down and pulled out his books. The two of them shared History and Ancient Runes and he had discovered that the witch held some interesting views on both. They now met up at least once a week to study together.

While working on their Runes assignment Draco talked about his upcoming trip. He stopped mid-sentence as an idea came to him. "Why don't you come with Blaise and me? I know Lio would love to meet you."

"You want me to go to Italy with you?" she asked in surprise.

"Sure, why not?"

"Won't people take me going as confirmation?"

Draco snorted at her reference to the rumours flying around Hogwarts. He was glad she had such a good sense of humour. It couldn't be easy having everyone think she was going to be used as a broodmare for the Malfoys. "Probably, but people will talk no matter what. You staying here in this miserable weather won't change anything. You might as well enjoy the warmer climate."  
"I don't want to leave Neville by himself. Most of the Hufflepuffs are going home for the break."

"So bring him with us. The Zabinis have plenty of room."

"They won't mind you bringing two complete strangers?"

"You're not a complete stranger. I've written to Lio about you, you know Blaise, and have met his brother Pablo. Besides the Zabinis are very welcoming."

Hermione fought against the blush that wanted to warm her cheeks. She had met Blaise's cousin al-right. When Draco had told her that Lio's older brother, the priest, was going to come talk to her, she had expected someone like her former priest, overweight, stuffy, and pushing fifty. Instead he had been tall, dark and twenty five! She had been mortified when she realised that she was lusting over a priest. By Merlin, shouldn't it be against some priestly vow to be so hot?!

She quickly returned her thoughts to the present in order to answer Draco's question. "Well, I will ask Neville. If he wants to go too, we'll come."

* * *

Draco was standing with Toni, Blaise and Neville in the Medici ballroom waiting for things to start. Although the music was playing, and people were mingling, Francesca hadn't entered the room yet. At first, Draco had been surprised at how well he and the shy Hufflepuff had gotten along. It turned out though, that they did have quite a bit in common, and a tentative friendship was starting.

It was nice having a friendly face around. The Italian society was starting to slowly warm to him, but he had received the message that death would be too good for him loud and clear. Toni and he were becoming close friends, but obviously Toni's first loyalty would always be Lio. He was even needing to be careful what he said to Blaise as it seemed the family's over-protectiveness was starting to kick in with him too. Of course with how quickly Lio won people over, it would just be a matter of time before Longbottom was firmly in that camp too. Draco sometimes wondered if Lio could even charm the dark lord.

He was interrupted from his inner musings by a startled gasp. Draco looked at Blaise and followed his shocked gaze to where Francesca, Lio, and Hermione had entered the room. He and Neville shared an amused smirk, for Neville had known, and he had suspected, that their mutual friend could brush up quite nicely if she wanted to. Apparently Francesca had convinced her that she wanted to.

The bushy hair that was normally pulled back into a haphazard bun, had been lightly straightened. Part of it had been formed into a half crown and the rest fell down her back in gentle waves. Her make up had been artistically done, and she was wearing Italian styled robes that suited her colouring perfectly.

Draco looked back at his stunned friend and smirked again. "Pull yourself together Blaise. She might be breath taking, but you know she is not the type you go for."

Blaise blinked and a gleam appeared in his eyes. "Who says that I can't be appreciative of all types?"

Draco frowned slightly. He didn't know why Blaise's comment had bothered him, it just did. Before he could say anything, Neville spoke up.

"If you aren't interested in a serious relationship, I suggest you keep your appreciation to yourself," Neville responded in a low, firm voice.

Blaise looked at the wizard in surprise and then glanced at his best friend. Noticing Draco's dark expression, he decided now would be a good time to back down. Holding up both hands in surrender he apologised. "Forgive me my dishonourable speech. I meant nothing by it. I know Granger isn't a good time girl. I may admire her beauty, but I won't attempt to touch."

"See that you don't," Draco answered, the words surprising him as much as his friend.

Across the room Hermione was looking around at all the people. She had never felt very comfortable in large crowds. She was thankful she had allowed Francesca to give her a makeover. The robes she had brought would have made her stand out even more than she did. She noticed Pablo talking to a group of wizards. It seemed impossible but the wizard was even more handsome than when she had first met him. Maybe it was because he was in normal dress robes. "Your brother doesn't wear his collar all the time?"

Both Lio and Francesca glanced to where she was looking. "Oh that isn't Pablo, that's his twin Marcus."

Francesca noticed Hermione's slight blush, thought for a moment and smiled softly. "So Hermione, are you dating anyone?"

"No," Hermione answered, her blush deepening.

Lio quickly realised what his friend and future sister-in-law was up to. "Chessie!" he hissed softly. "This is hardly the right time or place."

Francesca rolled her eyes. "Oh please Lio, we are at a ball. Exactly when and where would be better?"

As much as he would have liked to argue with her, he couldn't. Meeting new people and possible future spouses, was one of the main points to balls. "A ball that I am not even allowed to dance at," he mumbled, hoping his complaint would distract her.

Instead she gave him a knowing look. "Oh stop your grumbling, it won't work. Besides I have asked the musicians to play a few of the traditional dances, so you and Draco should be able to get a dance or two together. Now why don't you go find Luca or Mario. Unless you _want_ to stay and listen to girl talk about your brother?"

Lio grimaced and left. Although he felt bad for abandoning the British witch, once Chessie got started there was no stopping her.

"He is gorgeous isn't he? The twins have always turned heads where ever they go," Chessie murmured to Hermione once he had walked away. "Although I must say that between the two of them, I think Marcus is the better catch."

Hermione gave her a startled look. "Wouldn't that be a given, as Pablo is a priest?"

Francesca laughed lightly. "Well yes, and let me tell you many witches mourned the day that announcement was made, but what I meant was, I think Marcus has the better personality. Not that there is anything wrong with Pablo, but Marcus has a lighter, more fun loving disposition," She smiled once again at her new friend's blush. "Come, we'll go over and I will introduce you."

Before she could move Hermione grabbed her arm. "Chessie!" she whispered frantically. "We can't just go over there. It will be too obvious."

Francesca rolled her eyes. "Try to have some faith in me Hermione. He is currently talking with two of my brothers. It would be perfectly natural for me to go over and speak with them. If you are with me it would be downright rude for me not to introduce you," seeing that Hermione was beginning to waver, she added something to convince her. "Besides, I think that you and Marcus will get along well. You have quite a bit in common. He is training to be a healer, and you are interested in crafting new healing spells. Plus he is training in Ireland, which means he speaks English. Now are you coming?" she asked with a smile.

"Al-right,"Hermione answered, before following Francesca across the room.


	12. An Argument

AN: Well I never thought it would take me this long to update. After writing the challenge fic I entered a huge slump. I think that I am now getting out of it, but I had to force myself to write this chapter. The good thing is that I am actually excited about writing the next couple of chapters as several things that I have been leading towards will come together. Anyway here is the next chapter and thank you all for your patience. Ryz

Chapter 11 An Argument

Draco played with the food on his plate. The past two weeks had been awful. The trip to Italy had started out wonderfully, but had ended horribly. And all because he had been so stupid!

Flashback

"Mario is there any way for Lio and I to have a private conversation and still be within the rules of our courtship?" Draco asked. It was his last day in Italy and he would be leaving in a few hours. However, Blaise's comment from a couple of weeks ago kept coming back to him.

Mario thought for a moment before answering. "Well I suppose I could put up a shield that would keep me from hearing what is said while still allowing me to see the two of you."

"That would be perfect," Draco replied. He waited until the shield was up before turning back to the now curious Lio.

"A couple of weeks ago Blaise said something that made me think. Are you going to want me to use the pregnancy potion when I bottom?"

"I am a bearer Draco, why would you need to bottom?" Lio asked him, clearly confused by the question.

It was now Draco's turn to be confused. "It isn't a question of needing to bottom, but I would like to at times."

If anything, Lio looked even more confused. "Why?"

Draco tilted his head and studied his love. Surely Lio wasn't so naive that he didn't know that most couples switched at least occasionally. "Because I enjoy both positions and I think you would find pleasure in both as well."

"Sex is supposed to be about having a family," Lio answered blushing slightly.

"It can be about both Lio," Draco responded, amazed at how far from his original question they had strayed. "After all Song of Solomon is a pretty steamy read. I know that you believe that God created man. If He didn't want us to find sex pleasurable, why would He make us the way He did?"

Lio bristled slightly at his question. "Draco, I know that with your past you might find this hard to believe, but just because you can find something pleasurable doesn't mean you should."

Draco felt sucker punched by Lio's comment. Never before had Lio even hinted that he was bothered by his past. "Don't become a hypocrite Lio. Your purity is the result of your cultural upbringing. Do you really think that if you had been raised by your original family you would still be a virgin?"

"Perhaps not, but I would like to believe I would exercise some control!" Lio answered angrily. "If we do get married, will you even know what number I am?"

Draco could only look at Lio in shock as he tore into him. He knew he was missing some major point, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was. What had set the normally mild mannered wizard off?

"It is all about pleasure for you isn't it? By the saints we're not even engaged yet, but you already want to make sure your pleasure will be attended to!"

Draco opened his mouth to refute this but Lio didn't give him the chance.

"I am not dealing with right now," Lio stated standing up. He quickly took down Mario's shield. "I hope you have a safe trip home," he said before leaving the room.

End flashback

As soon as he had arrived back home Draco had written Lio, apologizing for upsetting him and trying to explain that he wasn't trying to offend him. He hadn't heard back, and as each day passed he lost more hope. He now dreaded the morning post, certain that the next letter he received from Italy would be his last.

He looked up to see Apollo in front of him. He blinked slowly, realising that he had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the arrival of the owls. Draco slowly removed the sealed parchment and tried not to feel too hopeful when he noticed that the address was written in Lio's handwriting and not Signore Zabini's.

Draco pushed his still full plate toward the owl and stood to leave the hall. He knew he wouldn't be able to uphold his Malfoy mask, no matter what the letter said. When he entered his room he sealed the door, and sat down at his desk. His hand shook slightly as he broke the wax seal and opened Lio's letter.

_Dear Draco,_

_ First let me apologise for taking so long to answer your letter. I needed to work through a few things before I could respond appropriately. I was in quite the muddle until Chessie decided she had had enough of my mood and tore into me._

_ While I appreciate your apology, I can't in good faith accept it, for you have done nothing to apologise for. My reaction was excessive and completely irrational. All I can do is try to explain it._

_ Before our courtship I never really thought about relationships that much. Of course I wanted to marry and have a family, but I was so dedicated to my studies that the whole idea was so abstract. This was true for the beginning of our courtship as well. As time went on and I got to know you, things began to change. I became invested in our relationship and that frightened me._

_ I knew that you must find that whole courtship process very restrictive, and I began to wonder if you would think that it isn't worth it. If I was worth it. I know you find me intelligent and attractive, but I am not naïve enough to believe that that can't be said about many wizards. Hogwarts has an entire house dedicated to intelligence, surely not all of them are ugly. The only thing special about me is my ability to bear children. I guess I latched onto that. The church's stance on children and birth control made it easy for me. Chessie accused me of hiding behind the church, and she was right. _

_ I am sure that our argument left you with the impression that I am offended by your past, but in truth I am not. Yes, there is a part of me that wishes you were still a virgin, but my reasons for wanting this are entirely selfish._

_ As long as sex was for procreation, I was fine. When you told me that you expected pleasure as well I panicked. I am a bearer, giving you children isn't a problem, but pleasure? I don't know anything about that. How can I compete against your past? How can I hope to please you?_

_ Truthfully I am terrified to even tell you all of this out of the fear that having written out my inadequacy you will want someone better._

_ Lio_

A strangled cry escaped Draco as conflicting emotions raged through him. On one side complete relief that Lio wasn't rejecting him, but on the other, his heart wrenched with the physical proof of how low Lio valued himself. This was his fault. Not all of it of course. So much damage had been done before he had even met Lio, but the fact that Lio didn't know how he felt about him was.

Draco hadn't wanted to first express his feeling to Lio through a letter. He had always planned on telling Lio that he loved him in person, but he had baulked at showing so much emotion in front of an audience. He knew that must change.

He quickly pulled out a fresh piece of parchment. Draco might have potions in ten minutes, but his godfather would just have to understand. If not, a zero for the day was a small sacrifice.

_Dear Lio,_

_ Oh Beloved forgive me. I have failed you. I have let my squeamishness of expressing myself in front of your family cause you to doubt the depth of my feelings._

_ You wonder if I will ever decide that you are not worth it? I never could. You worth is beyond measure. I love you Lio. You have an innate goodness that challenges me to be a better person._

_ Growing up I was indulged in every way. If I wanted something, I received it. I quickly started seeing it as my due, after all the Malfoy name is an important one in many circles. This attitude continued after I started Hogwarts. Due to my belief that my every whim should be satisfied I became a playboy._

_ You worry that your lack of experience means you won't be able to measure up. Lio there is no competition. Even with just holding hands you outshine them. I love you, they were just about slacking lust. I won't lie to you, of course I long for you. However I want so much more with you than what I had before, a life, with everything that that entails._

_ Do you believe that your inexperience displeases me? I freely admit that I am a hypocrite. Your innocence thrills me. I love that all of your first will be with me, that I alone will see your full beauty._

_ Please believe me. Do not doubt yourself. I value you more than anything else in the world._

_ Love,_

_ Draco_

Draco leaned back in his chair as he waited for the letter to dry. He felt emotionally drained. He had never told anyone that he loved them before. While he meant every word, he found the experience some what awkward. He pushed that feeling away. This wasn't about him. He refused to allow Lio to think so poorly about himself. This would be conquered. If it took him sending Lio daily letters proclaiming his extreme worth than so be it.


	13. In Italy Once Again

AN: Well here is the next installment. I will be away from all internet for the next three weeks so it will be the end of the month before my next post.

Chapter 12: In Italy Once Again

Lio looked at the blond next to him and blushed lightly. Ever since the four Brits had arrived earlier that week, Lio had felt different. Before he had always felt very comfortable in Draco's presence, now he didn't. It wasn't that he felt uncomfortable, it was just that when he looked into the grey eyes he felt flushed, and when Draco lightly stroked his hand he had a hard time breathing.

For the past month Draco had been sending him extra letters. Apollo still carried what Lio labelled as the "normal" letters. Letters in which he talked about what was going on in his life, letters Lio responded to. However, he also received letters that he didn't know how to respond to. Draco used an international post owl to send those. In them Draco told him what he liked about him, and how much he was desired.

The letters awakened something in Lio, and it confused him. Just thinking about them caused Lio to feel jittery, like there were butterflies inside him. He dropped his gaze. They weren't really talking about anything of importance, which was a good thing since for some reason he was having a hard time concentrating. He just hoped that he would regain his wits before their date at the end of the week.

Lio glanced at his family and noticed that those that watched them had amused expressions on their faces. He knew that as soon as he was alone with his family there would be comments. It was never mean spirited, but part of being in a large Italian family was gentle teasing.

He then looked over at Hermione, who was playing with two young children. He sighed in sorrow at the proof that not all stories can have happy endings. When the church's investigation had discovered that Hermione's former priest was the son of a squib with a grudge against the wizarding world, Lio had hoped that it would lead to a happy reconciliation between Hermione and her parents. It didn't turn out that way. His papa and Pablo had tried explained to the couple, but the damage had already been done. Instead of changing their mind they stubbornly held onto the idea that their daughter was of the devil.

The situation became worse when a casual scan showed that Hermione's younger bother and sister also showed signs of being magical. Just like with Hermione the Grangers had rejected their two younger children. They were going to simply drop them off at the local council building, but Giuseppe had intervened. Little Eleanor wasn't quite two, so it would be a year before it was certain that she would qualify as a witch, but he had refused to leave her behind. It had required some quick thinking and perhaps what they had done hadn't been completely legal, but Eleanor and Richard were now wards of the Zabini family. It would only be a problem if the British ministry demanded the children back. With their current attitude towards muggleborn orphans that didn't seem likely.

In the three weeks that they had been in Italy, Eleanor was settling in rather well. Children at her age were so resilient, and it had helped that Juliet came over a couple of times a week to play. Richard was having a harder time. He was old enough to understand that for some reason he wasn't going to be going home to Mummy and Daddy. They answered his questions as best they could, but how do you explain to a four year old that their parents don't want them anymore?

When she had first heard what had happened, Hermione had been frantic. She had wanted to meet and take care of her two siblings, but she still had two months left of school. Obviously her plan to travel after school had been abandoned, but there had been a slight disagreement over what she would be doing instead. She had insisted that she should take a job straight away, while Giuseppe and Maria told her that she needed to continue her education. His Papa had waved away her concern that she couldn't afford to do that by informing her that all three of them would live with them while she attended an Italian school.

At first she had baulked at the idea of accepting charity. Giuseppe had got past that by assuring her that it wasn't charity, but an investment toward the future. After all, as a Spellcrafter she would have a much higher income, which would lead to her paying higher taxes. Hermione had laughed at his statement, and seemed to accept the fact that she wasn't going to win. She reluctantly agreed, but had insisted that he accept the remainder of her inheritance.

He had taken it, but Lio knew that his Papa wouldn't touch it. Instead it would be put aside as either her dowry or something to help her get started once she finished her education. Lio had had to hide his smile as he watched his Papa negotiate around the witch. While what he had said was true, it wasn't the real reason. Lio might not be the matchmaker Chessie was, but he wasn't blind either. Indeed Lio believed that the only reason Marcus hadn't acted yet was because he was still trying to figure out who exactly he should talk to. Officially, Hermione would be viewed as a ward of the Zabini family, but asking his own father for permission seemed too bizarre. It was best not to dwell on the fact that technically he would be courting his sort of sister.

* * *

Draco shook his head in exasperated amusement as he watched the instructor fawn over Lio. For their third date, Draco had arranged for them to have a cooking class with a famous French chef. He had thought that his talents in Potions might carry over. He had hoped to impress Lio. His plan had worked somewhat. His Potion abilities had helped him, and the chef had praised his efforts, but apparently Lio was a natural.

"Does everything you touch turn to gold?" Draco asked Lio once the instructor left. The humour in his voice removing the sting from the words.

"What?" Lio asked, while Marcus chuckled.

"It just seems like you succeed at everything you attempt. I was just wondering if there is anything you can't do," Draco answered with a smile.

Lio blushed lightly at Draco's words. "I have faults just like everyone else."

"Yes he does, and if you want an example, just ask him why he started playing the violin," Marcus added helpfully.

Draco turned curious grey eyes back to Lio. This was a story he hadn't heard yet.

Lio rolled his eyes as they sat down to eat what they had cooked. His family loved teasing him about this! "All prep students are required to take a music class. It is one of the ways we are taught magical control. As I had never had any musical training before, I chose to join the choir. Unfortunately, I can't carry a tune so the vocal instructor didn't allow me to continue."

"Si, it is a school record. Lio is the only person to ever be kicked out within ten minutes of the first class," Marcus teased.

"Thank you oh so much brother," Lio replied sarcastically.

Draco laughed. In the past few weeks Lio's letters had shown a lighter, playful side, and Draco loved seeing his love so carefree. Wanting it to continue he responded, "So your one flaw is not being able to sing? Well seeing as you more than make up for that with your violin, that just isn't going to cut it. I am convinced. You are perfect!"

As Draco had hoped, Lio burst out laughing. "You sir are a flatterer."

"You think I am a liar?" Draco asked in mock horror.

"I think you exaggerate."

"A Malfoy never exaggerates!" Draco answered pompously.

"Hmm," Lio replied, struggling to keep a straight face. "Than perhaps you are just biased."

"My my, first you imply that I am a liar, and now that I am delusional. You are truly flowing with the compliments tonight aren't you?"

Lio lost the battle and laughed lightly. "I don't know what to tell you. I know that I am not perfect, yet you declare that I am. We can't both be right you know."

"You wish to challenge me on this? I feel I must warn you, Malfoys are excellent debaters," Draco said, mischief dancing in his eyes.

"Incredibly modest too," Lio replied. "Perhaps I should. What shall the rules for our verbal duel be?"

"Simply that you must show that you have a real flaw or fault. Something that restricts your life in an important way. After all, I can't dance ballet, but as that has no impact on my life, it isn't a flaw."

"You make it too easy. There have been classes I haven't done well in."

"Oh come on. I have seen your academic record. Not getting a perfect score in a class does not qualify as a flaw!"

Lio smiled. "My record isn't an accurate representation. I have always been a very good test taker due to my inheritance of a rare family magic."

Draco knew that his face must have shown his shock at Lio's casual mention of a family magic.

"What did I say that surprised you so much?" Lio asked.

"Are family magics normally spoken about so openly in Italy, or do you just really trust me?"

Lio looked surprised at the question. "Both I suppose. I do trust you, and family magics are well known in Italy. I take it from your reaction that that isn't true in the UK?"

"No, the exact opposite in fact. Most families magics are kept secret. My mother didn't even find out about the Malfoy magics until after the wedding."

"Wow, in Italy there would be no way for such secrecy to exist. Most of the families are so interconnected that everyone knows everyone-else's business."

"So what is this family magic that gives you such an advantage?" Draco asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

"You know how some people have photogenic memories? Well, I have something similar. I remember everything I have ever experienced."

"You have a perfect memory? That is amazing!" Draco exclaimed. He then smirked before continuing. "See, I told you that you are perfect."

Lio laughed. "Perfect memory is both a blessing and a curse. Sure it makes tests easier, but I don't just remember the useful information, I remember everything. If I think about it, I can tell you what I had for breakfast two years ago. Also, just because I understand something doesn't mean I can do it. There's a reason why I stopped taking transfiguration as soon as possible."

"You have trouble with T-fig? Has it caused you problems in other areas?" Draco asked, knowing that a problem with one of the main branches of magic could carry over.

"It had the potential to do so. There are some magical paints and pigments that use transfigured ingredients. Since I can't make those ingredients, I can never become a master artisan in that field. Fortunately, I have always wanted to be a master wand artisan so it isn't a problem."

"Hmm, well then I don't know if I can say that it is a real flaw. It has the potential to negatively effect your life but it doesn't, so according to the rules of our debate it doesn't count," Draco grinned smugly.

Lio rolled his eyes. "You are stubborn aren't you?"

"Persistent," Draco corrected, glad that Lio didn't seem bothered by their conversation.

"Semantics. Well, since you insist, than fine, it doesn't effect my future career, however it does still frustrate me in one major way. All Potters are born with an Animagus form. It is the primary family magic. I have a form, and through meditation I even know what my form is, but I am unable to access it. Sure it might not be all that useful of a form, but it is still frustrating that I have it and can't use it."

"Fine you win," Draco grumbled. "So what is your form?"

Lio blushed deeply. "Never mind."

Marcus laughed, reminding Draco that he was there. "Good luck finding out. He refuses to even tell the family."

"Oh come on it can't be that bad," Draco wheedled.

"Fine, I will tell you once we are alone," Lio conceded.

"But..but we aren't allowed to be alone until after we are married," Draco complained.

Lio smirked at him. "Your point being?"

Draco groaned, and forced himself to accept the fact that he would have to wait well over a year for the answer.


End file.
